Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a cap on bills for major works to support leaseholders.

The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. The Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market.

The law is clear that service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to work or services, the work or services must be of a reasonable standard. We believe very strongly that any fees and charges should be justifiable, transparent, and communicated effectively and that there should be a clear route to redress if things go wrong.

The ‘Section 20’ consultation process (of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985) aims to ensure that leaseholders contributing towards the upkeep and maintenance of the building where they live have sufficient input into how their money is spent on major works.