Inflated “fleecehold” private estate management contracts came under scrutiny yesterday in the Commons yesterday, as exasperated MPs yet again waded-in to our tax-payer subsidised house builders. The debate was called by Helen Goodman, Labour MP for Bishop Aukland, (above) who described the proliferation of private estate income streams as “a scandal. There has clearly been mis-selling.” […]
Law Commission meets leaseholders in Manchester
But will its reforms help 100,000 trapped in unsellable homes? The Law Commissioner Professor Nicholas Hopkins and his five-strong team came to Manchester yesterday to address 120 leaseholders organised by LKP and the National Leasehold Campaign group. He was joined by Justin Madders, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, an official from the DHCLG […]
Justin Madders Bill: 10x annual ground rent and the freehold is yours … Anyone got a problem with that?
Justin Madders, the Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, has unveiled his Bill to short-circuit the smokes and mirrors calculations of the leasehold sector and allow leaseholders to buy their freeholds for 10x annual ground rent. The Bill – in the extraordinary event that it is accepted – will render further Law Commission consultation […]
Law Commissioner wants to meet YOU: November 3
The Law Commissioner Professor Nick Hopkins is to address leaseholders on reforms to leasehold in Manchester on Saturday November 3, with an event in London to be announced shortly. Professor Hopkins will be discussing the Law Commission’s consultation paper setting out proposals that aim to make buying your freehold or extending your lease simpler, easier, […]
MPs turn out in force to welcome leaseholder demonstrators at Westminster
MPs turned out in force this morning to meet leasehold demonstrators organised by the National Leasehold Campaign, most of who arrived by coach from the North West. Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick, patrons of LKP and co-chairs of the APPG on leasehold reform, were on hand, as was Justin Madders, the deputy chair who […]
National housebuilders ‘sold an illusion’ of home ownership, says Justin Madders MP
MP urges housebuilder CEOs to be hauled before the Communities Select Committee Do any of the plc housebuilder CEOs ACTUALLY live in their leasehold products? The government is talking tough about sorting out the leasehold scandal – which has put the lives of at 100,000 homeowners on hold – but those who introduced these toxic […]
Gleeson CEO Jolyon Harrison responds over ‘fleasehold’ row and asks Justin Madders for an apology
LKP raised questions earlier today with Gleeson Homes over the “fleasehold” row sparked by Justin Madders’s speech in the Commons on Tuesday. That article can be read in full below: Gleeson won’t sell leasehold houses, but freehold ones come with ‘fleasehold’ covenants, says Justin Madders The response comes from Gleeson Homes CEO Jolyon Harrison. LKP […]
Gleeson won’t sell leasehold houses, but freehold ones come with ‘fleasehold’ covenants, says Justin Madders
Gleeson, the housebuilder that publicly disapproved of rip-off leasehold houses, was identified in the Commons on Tuesday for introducing a raft of “fleasehold” covenants into its freehold ones. Justin Madders, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, who is deputy chair of the APPG on leasehold reform, spoke out about how “rancid the whole business” […]
LEASE chair Roger Southam launched complaint to Parliamentary Standards Commissioner against Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick (and LKP, naturally enough)
‘Why was I left out?’ asks Sir Ed Davey Roger Southam, the chairman of the Leasehold Advisory Service, issued a complaint to the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner about Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick He added LKP in the official complaint, in its role as secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group. “I am disappointed not […]
Justin Madders delays Leasehold Reform Bill and calls on the Government to provide justice for leaseholders
Labour MP for Ellesmere Port & Neston, Justin Madders has delayed the second reading of the Leasehold Reform Bill until October 26 2018. The Bill seeks to introduce a statutory formula for enfranchisement and lease extension similar to schemes in Northern Ireland and Scotland. It will end the incessant game-playing and revenues from the lease […]
APPG, December 6: Park home banditry; Law Commission; Planners barring leasehold houses; London deputy mayor; gargantuan Grenfell bills for leaseholders
We are all waiting for Sajid Javid The All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold reform met on December 6 at Westminster. Overshadowing all was the conclusion of Communities Secretary Sajid Javid’s report on “Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market”: the review that he announced in the summer, that concluded in September, into […]
Justin Madders: this could be called the Leasehold Emancipation Bill
‘Amount for a leaseholder to purchase their freehold would be capped at no more than 10 times the annual ground rent’ ‘I have never been given a satisfactory answer by a developer as to exactly what ground rent pays for, other than to provide an additional cash cow for the builder and a revenue stream […]
Two opportunities to raise leasehold scandals in Parliament today
Kelly Tolhurst, Conservative MP for Rochester and Strood, has a debate scheduled today on property management. This means two debates on the leasehold scandal in Parliament today, as Justin Madders, Labour MP for Ellesmere Port and Neston, has his 10-minute rule Bill this afternoon. It is not known what direction Kelly Tolhurst will take, although […]
Justin Madders launches Bill to end the enfranchisement and lease extension racket
An attack at the heart of the monetising opportunities of the leasehold sector has been launched by MP Justin Madders today. He is moving a ten-minute Bill to deliver justice for leaseholders by adopting a simple formula set out in law to buy freeholds without the need for protracted tribunals. If adopted, England and Wales […]
APPG tells MPs: Ban ground rents. Introduce commonhold. Summons housebuilders to select committee. End rip-off ‘fleasehold’ permission fees on managed estates
Ground rents should simply be banned; commonhold introduced and made compulsory; developers should be summoned for ‘Philip Green’ shaming by select committees; and rip-off ‘fleasehold’ permission fees should be ended. These were issues discussed at a standing-room only meeting of All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold on Monday, that attracted more than 100 […]
Ground rent protestors stage ANOTHER demonstration against leasehold houses and charges
The National Leasehold Campaign Facebook group, now more than 6,000 strong, staged another demonstration at the weekend in protest at the ground rent scandal. The even took place outside a development of Redrow leasehold houses in Ellesmere Port, the same site of the demonstration in April: Leaseholders demand end to Redrow selling leasehold houses The […]
