Asked by
To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to make
leasehold enfranchisement a simpler, more viable option for
residential leaseholders.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on
the Order Paper. I declare my interests as set out in the
register and the fact that I am a leaseholder.
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for
Levelling Up, Housing & Communities () (Con)
My Lords, we are committed to making enfranchisement simpler and
cheaper for leaseholders. We will abolish marriage value, cap the
treatment of ground rents in the enfranchisement calculation and
prescribe rates to be used, saving some leaseholders thousands of
pounds. An online calculator will also be introduced to make it
simpler for leaseholders to find out how much it will cost them
to enfranchise. We are due to bring forward further leaseholder
reforms later in this Parliament.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, there is a specific problem with any lease extension
granted in blocks of flats after 14 February 2022, as they are
not protected by the Building Safety Act 2022. When will that be
put right? Secondly, the Minister will have seen the interview
her predecessor—the noble Lord, Lord Greenhalgh—gave to the
Leasehold Knowledge Partnership on 14 April, which raised grave
doubts about the promised leasehold reform Bill being in the
King’s Speech. Does she understand the concern and worry that has
caused leaseholders, and will she bring those worries and
concerns to the attention of the Secretary of State?
(Con)
My noble friend—or, rather, the noble Lord opposite; the number
of times he brings this Question means I think of him as a friend
—is quite right that, if you are a qualifying leaseholder and
extend or vary your lease, you may surrender your existing lease
and be granted a new lease. As the new lease will not have been
granted before 14 February 2022, the statutory leaseholder
protections in the Building Safety Act will not apply. We are
looking to legislate to resolve this issue as soon as
parliamentary time allows. In the meantime, before seeking a new
extended or varied lease, leaseholders should seek legal advice
and seek to come to agreements with landlords to apply the same
protections as contractual terms.
I am very sorry, but I did not answer the second question. He
asked whether I would bring the letter to leaseholders from the
noble Lord, , to the attention of the
Secretary of State. I have already done so.
(Con)
My Lords, further to the Answer which my noble friend has just
given to the noble Lord, Lord Kennedy, will the protection to
which my noble friend has just referred be retrospective so those
leaseholders who extended their leases after February last year
will get the protection she referred to?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question. As I say, we are
looking at how we can protect it. On whether it is retrospective
or not, I will have to write to my noble friend.
(Con)
Is my noble friend aware that the general tenor of the Answer she
has given this afternoon is enormously welcome and a
demonstration of the statements made in the last 12 months that
our Government believe in not only modernising leasehold but the
whole structure of the housing market in the United Kingdom?
(Con)
I thank my noble friend for that question—or statement, I think.
Yes, we have made it very clear all along, in answering every
question that I have been asked at this Dispatch Box, that we are
going to bring forward further leasehold reform and it will be in
this Parliament.
(LD)
My Lords, my recent experience of helping leaseholders in a
retirement block near me leads me to ask: does the Minister
accept that going to the final arbiter of leasehold disputes,
which is the First- tier Tribunal, is a long, off-putting,
expensive, complex process? Can she reassure us that, when the
renters reform Bill finally arrives, it will address this
unsatisfactory service which, I can bear testimony to, really is
a serious detriment to leaseholders seeking fair treatment?
(Con)
Certainly, we will be looking at the First-tier Tribunal issue,
as we will be looking at all issues, when we get to the
leaseholders Bill and the private renters reform Bill.
(Lab)
My Lords, when this new legislation gets published, can the
Minister ensure that the exemptions on certain pretty ordinary
houses on the Isles of Scilly, which the Duchy of Cornwall has
opposed for so many years, will be included and they will be able
to buy their leases like everybody else? I would have mentioned
it to His Majesty this morning, but my train was late.
(Con)
I thank the noble Lord for that question. I am afraid I cannot
tell him whether the few cottages on the Isles of Scilly that he
refers to will be covered, but I am sure he will ask further
questions during the passage of that Bill.
The (CB)
My Lords, over 20 years ago we introduced the law of commonhold,
and I think I contributed to a textbook on the subject as a
junior barrister. In the years since, I think only about 20
commonholds have been established. I know the Law Commission
looked at this a couple of years ago, and commonhold is designed
to be a better alternative to leasehold without the
complications. Can the Minister explain what is happening to
update commonhold and to encourage the adoption of it?
(Con)
The noble Earl brings up a very interesting point. Commonhold, as
he knows, allows home owners to own the freehold of a unit, such
as a flat, within buildings and it is commonplace in places such
as Australia, New Zealand, the US and Canada. Unlike leasehold,
commonhold does not run out, there is no third-party landlord and
owners are in control of the costs and decisions affecting the
management of their buildings. Commonhold was introduced in this
country in 2002, but for some reason it has not taken off and, as
the noble Earl says, there are currently fewer than 20 commonhold
developments. In 2020, the Law Commission recommended reforms to
reinvigorate commonhold as an alternative to leasehold ownership,
and the Government are looking at this and will respond in due
course.
(Con)
Would my noble friend agree that, with the shortage of leasehold
properties and the extensive number of good landlords that there
are across the country, it is important, when we have the new
legislation, to ensure that not only are tenants
protected—because of course, rightly, they must have protection
in their own homes—but we are careful about the balance around
putting too much burden on landlords to the extent that we may
drive good ones out of the market? I declare my interests as set
in the register.
(Con)
My noble friend is absolutely right: this is a balance. There are
a lot of exceptionally good landlords in this country, but there
are a few that are not good—in fact, you could probably call them
rogue. It is important that whatever legislation we put through
gets that balance right, protecting tenants and good landlords
but ensuring that we get rid of those rogue landlords.
(Lab)
Does the Minister recognise the distress and anxiety caused to
leaseholders and, indeed, the degree of uncertainty that still
exists? Could she explain to us why the opportunity was not taken
in the levelling-up Bill to include leaseholders? They are
signally not included in it, and so many other things are.
(Con)
It is very simple: the leasehold Bill was already in production
when LURB came in. It is a very complex Bill and the issues in it
need their own legislation; it will be here before the end of the
Parliament.
(Con)
It has been very helpful to hear the assurance that we will see
leasehold reform before the end of this Parliament, but could my
noble friend push to have the Bill published? It is going to be
very complex, with issues around enfranchisement, the right to
manage and encouraging and reinvigorating commonhold. Can we
publish the Bill so that we can begin the pre-legislative
scrutiny as soon as possible?
(Con)
We have had this question before, but I can tell my noble friend
that we are trying to get the Bill here. We have a short period
of time, it is a complex Bill and—I am going to be totally honest
with noble Lords—it will not get here for pre-legislative
scrutiny, but we will get it in shortly.
(Lab Co-op)
My Lords, can I just be absolutely clear? Are we definitely going
to get this Bill in the next Session of Parliament, without a
doubt?
(Con)
Does the noble Lord want me to repeat it? I shall not waste
time—but, yes.
