Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill to ensure that any ground rent reductions are not passed on to leaseholders by way of increased service charges.

The Government recently consulted on a range of options to restrict ground rents for existing leases. We asked questions about the impacts of the options on different stakeholder groups and how a cap would work in practice. This included questions on how freeholders use ground rent currently, and whether there are costs that freeholders meet through ground rent which are more appropriately suited to the service charge.

We are carefully considering the responses we have received and will set out next steps in due course.