Political opinion: Labour backs leaseholders with strengthened rights and protections against excessive service charges
Peter Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, has welcomed that the Labour government that will give millions of homeowners across England and Wales stronger rights and protections over their homes.
Leaseholders are required to pay a service charge to cover the upkeep of shared areas in their building, however in too many cases they are left facing very unclear and unaffordable fees.
Demands for service charges are currently only required by law to include a limited amount of details, which can leave leaseholders in the dark over what services or works make up their bill.
This can leave leaseholders at risk of being overcharged for poor quality work, or out of pocket for work that has not been carried out in some of the worst cases, on top of existing cost of living pressures.
Beefing up rights and protections through the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill will ensure almost five million leaseholders in England and Wales have the transparency they need to better hold their landlords to account, with a greater breakdown of what their money is being spent on alongside other changes.
The government is pushing ahead to implement these reforms and is consulting over the best way forward to ensure they are robust, workable and protect leaseholders effectively.
Commenting on this Peter Lamb MP said: “Too many of residents in Crawley have been trapped in a broken leasehold system, facing unfair bills, unaccountable managing agents, and no real power to challenge poor service.
Labour has acted to change that. Giving homeowners greater rights, powers, and protections over their homes”
Further reforms – in addition to measures in the Act –include improving the Section 20 ‘major works’ process to ensure leaseholders are not hit by one-off, unexpected and very large bills with little or no notice as is the case currently.
This is part of the government’s wider mission to end the feudal leasehold system, reinvigorate commonhold, and give homeowners real control over their homes.
The Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill which will set out a reformed commonhold model and we will consult later this year on a ban on the use of leasehold for new flats.
These reforms will help drive up living standards, as part of Labour’s Plan for Change.