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

To ask His Majesty's Government what regulatory powers they have to ensure leaseholders are protected from unreasonable charges or inadequate services property management agents.

By law all variable service charges must be reasonable and, where costs relate to works or services, the works or services must be of a reasonable standard and leaseholders may challenge them at the property tribunal. It is also a legal requirement for managing and letting agents in England to belong to one of the two Government approved redress schemes.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will make it easier for leaseholders to scrutinise costs and challenge the services provided by both landlords and property managing agents. The Bill includes measures to require landlords to provide further information to leaseholders upfront and increase the transparency of their service charges and administration charges, as well as providing more information to leaseholders when requested.

For those homeowners on private and mixed tenure freehold estates, the Bill will also give them rights to challenge costs at the tribunal and improved rights of transparency of costs and services.

The Government intends to work closely with stakeholders to determine the detail of how the measures will work to protect leaseholders, which will be set out in secondary legislation.

These measures, alongside existing protections and work undertaken by industry, will make property managing agents more accountable to the leaseholders and homeowners on freehold estates that pay for their services, and we will keep under review the need for further regulation in the sector.