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

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of trends in the practice of developers selling new houses on a leasehold rather than a freehold basis; and if he will make a statement.

Developers and housebuilders who sell the freehold of a house to a leaseholder after a sale, or who sell on the freehold interest to a third party may not be working in leaseholders’ best interests. Leaseholders wanting to purchase the freehold interest can find that they are faced with higher costs, along with significant legal costs, where they want to purchase the freehold after the point of sale. The Housing White Paper highlighted the Government's intention to improve fairness and transparency for these leaseholders.