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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will take steps to tackle leasehold properties with high service charges in (a) new and (b) established developments.

The government recognise the considerable financial strain that rising services charges are placing on leaseholders.

The level of service charge that leaseholders pay depends on many factors, including the terms of a lease and the age and condition of a building.

By law, variable service charges must be reasonable. Should leaseholders wish to contest the reasonableness of their service charges they may make an application to the appropriate tribunal.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes measures designed to drive up the transparency of service charges to make them more easily challengeable if leaseholders consider them to be unreasonable.

The government is committed to acting quickly to implement the provisions of the Act. Further detail can be found in the written ministerial statement published on Thursday 21 November (HCWS244).