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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to provide assistance to leaseholders who were misled on property purchases.

The previous Secretary of State wrote to the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) on 26 November 2018 and 1 April 2019 to encourage them to undertake work into mis-selling in the leasehold housing market.

The government welcomed the CMA announcement on 11 June to open an investigation in this area. The CMA is concerned about potential leasehold mis-selling, and whether leasehold contract terms are onerous and unfair in relation to ground rent, permission and other charges. If the CMA thinks that a company’s practices are misleading – or that its contracts contain unfair clauses – it could take enforcement action to require the company to change how they operate. We look forward to hearing progress on the CMA’s work later this year.

The government has also worked with National Trading Standards who have published guidance to help clarify the rights and responsibilities around owning a leasehold property, and practical steps for individuals to take in the event things go wrong.