• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
Donate

Leasehold Knowledge Management Logo

Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
  • Advice
  • News
    • Find everything …
    • About Peverel group
    • APPG
    • ARMA
    • Bellway
    • Benjamin Mire
    • Brixton Hill Court
    • Canary Riverside
    • Charter Quay
    • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
    • Cladding scandal
    • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
    • Commonhold
    • Communities Select Committee
    • Conveyancing Association
    • Countrywide
    • MHCLG
    • E&J Capital Partners
    • Exit fees
    • FirstPort
    • Fleecehold
    • Forfeiture
    • FPRA
    • Gleeson Homes
    • Ground rent scandal
    • Hanover
    • House managers flat
    • House of Lords
    • Housing associations
    • Informal lease extension
    • Insurance
    • IRPM
    • JB Leitch
    • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
    • John Christodoulou
    • Justin Bates
    • Justin Madders MP
    • Law Commission
    • LEASE
    • Liam Spender
    • Local authority leasehold
    • London Assembly
    • Louie Burns
    • Martin Paine
    • McCarthy and Stone
    • Moskovitz / Gurvits
    • Mulberry Mews
    • National Leasehold Campaign
    • Oakland Court
    • Park Homes
    • Parliament
    • Persimmon
    • Peverel
    • Philip Rainey QC
    • Plantation Wharf
    • Press
    • Property tribunal
    • Prostitutes
    • Quadrangle House
    • Redrow
    • Retirement
    • Richard Davidoff
    • RICS
    • Right To Manage Federation
    • Roger Southam
    • Rooftop development
    • RTM
    • Sean Powell
    • SFO
    • Shared ownership
    • Sinclair Gardens Investments
    • Sir Ed Davey
    • Sir Peter Bottomley
    • St George’s Wharf
    • Subletting
    • Taylor Wimpey
    • Tchenguiz
    • Warwick Estates
    • West India Quay
    • William Waldorf Astor
    • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
  • [Custom]
Menu
  • Advice
  • News
      • Find everything …
      • About Peverel group
      • APPG
      • ARMA
      • Bellway
      • Benjamin Mire
      • Brixton Hill Court
      • Canary Riverside
      • Charter Quay
      • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
      • Cladding scandal
      • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
      • Commonhold
      • Communities Select Committee
      • Conveyancing Association
      • Countrywide
      • MHCLG
      • E&J Capital Partners
      • Exit fees
      • FirstPort
      • Fleecehold
      • Forfeiture
      • FPRA
      • Gleeson Homes
      • Ground rent scandal
      • Hanover
      • House managers flat
      • House of Lords
      • Housing associations
      • Informal lease extension
      • Insurance
      • IRPM
      • JB Leitch
      • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
      • John Christodoulou
      • Justin Bates
      • Justin Madders MP
      • Law Commission
      • LEASE
      • Liam Spender
      • Local authority leasehold
      • London Assembly
      • Louie Burns
      • Martin Paine
      • McCarthy and Stone
      • Moskovitz / Gurvits
      • Mulberry Mews
      • National Leasehold Campaign
      • Oakland Court
      • Park Homes
      • Parliament
      • Persimmon
      • Peverel
      • Philip Rainey QC
      • Plantation Wharf
      • Press
      • Property tribunal
      • Prostitutes
      • Quadrangle House
      • Redrow
      • Retirement
      • Richard Davidoff
      • RICS
      • Right To Manage Federation
      • Roger Southam
      • Rooftop development
      • RTM
      • Sean Powell
      • SFO
      • Shared ownership
      • Sinclair Gardens Investments
      • Sir Ed Davey
      • Sir Peter Bottomley
      • St George’s Wharf
      • Subletting
      • Taylor Wimpey
      • Tchenguiz
      • Warwick Estates
      • West India Quay
      • William Waldorf Astor
      • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
You are here: Home / Latest News / LKP and LEASE thank DCLG civil servant for helping leaseholders

LKP and LEASE thank DCLG civil servant for helping leaseholders

March 25, 2015 //  by Sebastian O'Kelly

PaulaHassallgroupThe Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and LEASE jointly held a party last night to thank Paula Hassall, a DCLG civil servant, for her contribution to helping leaseholders.

Paula was appointed to the leasehold section 13 months ago and helped bring about significant improvements to the leasehold sector.

Sadly, she leaves at the end of this week to join the DCLG devolution team, which is in preparation for the post-election political landscape.

Jim Fitzpatrick (left) and Sir Peter Bottomley (right) raise glasses to toast the achievements of civil servant Paula Hassall
Jim Fitzpatrick (left) and Sir Peter Bottomley (right) raise glasses to toast the achievements of civil servant Paula Hassall

Paula’s contributions include encouraging DCLG statisticians to examine LKP analysis of the leasehold sector’s size – it is now accepted as 4.1 million leaseholders, not 2.5 million – easing the formation of officially recognised residents’ associations (which have the power to employ an auditor to examine accounts) and ensuring that retirement leasehold exit fees are now under examination by the Law Commission.

It is in no small measure thanks to Paula that the evidence of LKP concerning widespread abuses in the sector are now considered seriously by government.

In the past, officialdom had largely closed its ears to leaseholders’ concerns, and drew information and insight from insiders employed by the leasehold trade bodies.

The reception was attended by LKP patrons the MPs Sir Peter Bottomley (Con, Worthing West) and Jim Fitzpatrick (and his wife – Labour, Poplar and Limehouse) as well as Roger Southam, the chairman of the Leasehold Advisory Service, and Anthony Essien, its chief executive.

There was a generous turnout of DCLG and LEASE officials.

Roger Southam, chairman of LEASE, offers his thanks to the DCLG civil servant
Roger Southam, chairman of LEASE, offers his thanks to the DCLG civil servant

Paula attended with her husband, Terry, and her daughter Maisie, 11, also made a speech applauding her mother’s work – encouraged by a recent tour of the Palace of Westminster.

Sir Peter and Jim Fitzpatrick expressed their appreciation, as did Roger Southam, who is giving every indication of confronting flaws and injustices in the current system.

This was particularly useful in a meeting today at Westminster with the Financial Conduct Authority over unjustified insurance commissions – about which Roger has long been indignant (more in a separate post).

The work of LKP in driving a narrative for reform was recognised and applauded.

The following could not attend but sent the following statements:

Ian Fletcher, policy director British Property Federation, praised Paula Hassall’s work and made a plea for commonhold:

“My apologies I am unable to attend tonight – family duties call. However, I am pleased to see that the efforts of the small team at DCLG on residential leasehold are being recognised.

“This part of the Department’s remit is often undervalued and yet is so important to the millions who own or live in flats. Please pass on my thanks to Paula with our best wishes in her new role and my hope that her successor will continue to drive the important housing issues that she has worked on, and also finally make commonhold work.”

Joe Oldman, housing policy advisor AgeUK, said:

“Age UK is particularly pleased that DCLG has recognised the needs of vulnerable older people, as well as the leasehold retirement industry.

“In the long term this balanced approach will support the expansion of the sector by giving older people more confidence about getting a fairer deal and gaining protection from bad practice.”

“Over the last year DCLG has demonstrated that they want older leaseholders themselves to be engaged in much needed reform of the leasehold sector.”

Steve O’Connell, Greater London Assembly member Croydon and Sutton, said:

“I very much welcome the recent new initiatives that have come out of the residential leasehold policy team at CLG, particularly the reassessment of the scale of the sector in London and the progress being made on the recognition of the role of tenants’ associations in the management of service charges. I look forward to further progress being made by Paula Hassall’s successor.”

Related posts:

Justin Madders MP demands LEASE chair has ‘no business interests in the leasehold sector’ Motion of no confidence in Roger Southam as LEASE chair The Social Housing Green Paper – the government should do more, says ex-civil servant Martin Boyd flags controversial civil servant letter to City Hall at fire safety meeting DCLG rejects second complaint about Roger Southam as LEASE chair. He was appointed on merit, it claims

Category: Latest News, LEASE, MHCLG, NewsTag: Anthony Essien, DCLG, Jim Fitzpatrick, Paula Hassall, Roger Southam, Sir Peter Bottomley

Sign up to the LKP newsletter

Fill in the link here

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @LKPleasehold

Mentions

Anthony Essien (34) APPG (44) ARMA (91) Benjamin Mire (32) Cladding scandal (71) Clive Betts MP (33) CMA (46) Commonhold (56) Competition and Markets Authority (42) Countryside Properties plc (33) FirstPort (55) Grenfell cladding (56) Ground rents (55) Israel Moskovitz (32) James Brokenshire MP (31) Jim Fitzpatrick (36) Jim Fitzpatrick MP (31) Justin Bates (41) Justin Madders MP (75) Katie Kendrick (41) Law Commission (61) LEASE (68) Leasehold Advisory Service (65) Leasehold houses (32) Liam Spender (39) Long Harbour (51) Lord Greenhalgh (32) Martin Boyd (87) McCarthy and Stone (43) National Leasehold Campaign (42) Persimmon (49) Peverel (61) Property tribunal (49) Retirement (38) Robert Jenrick (33) Roger Southam (47) Sajid Javid (38) Sebastian O’Kelly (67) Sir Peter Bottomley (211) Taylor Wimpey (106) Tchenguiz (33) The Guardian (33) The Times (34) Vincent Tchenguiz (45) Waking watch contracts (40)
Previous Post: « Government to ‘take forward’ CMA leasehold report, but rejects making right to manage easier
Next Post: Leasehold mediation from commercial operators backed by government »

Above Footer

Advising leaseholders. Avoiding disasters.
Stopping forfeiture. Exposing abuses. Urging reform.

We depend on individuals for the majority of our funding.

Support Us and Donate

LKP Managing Agents

Become an LKP Managing Agent

Common Ground
Adam Church
Blocnet property management2

Stay in Touch

To achieve victory in the leasehold game where you are playing against professionals and with rules that they know all too well - stay informed with the LKP newsletter.
Sign Up for Newsletter

Professional Directory

The following advertisements are from firms that seek business from leaseholders.
Click on the logos for company profiles.

Barry Passmore

Footer

About LKP

  • What is LKP
  • Privacy and data

Categories

  • News
  • Cladding scandal
  • Commonhold
  • Law Commission
  • Fleecehold
  • Parliament
  • Press
  • APPG

Contact

Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
Open Data Institute
5th Floor
Kings Place
London N1 9AG

sok@leaseholdknowledge.com

Copyright © 2025 Leasehold Knowledge Partnership | All rights reserved
Leasehold Knowledge Partnership Limited (company number: 08999652) is a company limited by guarantee that is a registered charity (number: 1162584) with the Charities Commission.
LKP website is hosted at www.34sp.com
Website by Callia Web