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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to help ensure that people who have been mis-sold leasehold properties will be compensated.

The Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. This includes working with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, quicker and more cost effective to help both future and existing leaseholders. Their report on Valuation was published on 9 January, and we are considering the recommendations. We are moving forward with legislation to ban new leasehold houses and reduce ground rents on future leases to zero. We will publish a draft bill as soon as possible.

The Government recognises that there are those who feel strongly that they were mis-sold their properties. The Government welcomed the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announcement on 11 June 2019 that it was launching an investigation in this area. The CMA is considering the extent of any mis-selling and onerous term in the leasehold sector, including whether they might constitute ‘unfair terms’. The Government looks forward to hearing progress on the CMA’s work.