
Landlords ‘looting' millions of leaseholders under Labour
A series of reforms aimed at boosting leaseholder powers have been unveiled by the Government, but critics argue they will fail to deliver change.
Under new rules, leaseholders will be able to more easily challenge extortionate service charges, which they are required to pay to cover the upkeep of shared areas in their building.
The new proposals – labelled 'performative nonsense' by campaigners – come after Labour previously rowed back on a commitment to abolish leasehold within 100 days of taking power.
Housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, said the party still plans to bring the 'feudal system' to an end, but a timeline on the pledge has not been made clear.
The smaller reforms have been proposed in a new consultation unveiled by Angela Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
It says leaseholders will receive a standardised service charge documentation each year which will spell out clear and detailed information about how their rates are calculated and spent.
This is hoped to 'make it easier for them to challenge unreasonable bills, and potentially save money where expenses are unjustified'.
Further reforms are aimed at stopping leaseholders who have successfully challenged their bill from having to automatically pay for landlords' litigation costs.
Property managers will also be forced to qualify as professional practitioners for the first time.
Mr Pennycook said: 'This bold package of reforms will arm leaseholders with greater rights and protections, and empower them to challenge poor practice and unreasonable charges and fees.'
But Harry Scoffin, of the campaign group Free Leaseholders, said the proposals do not go far enough and leaseholders will continue to be 'looted' by landlords.
He said: 'There is this endless number of consultations. The Government is investing all of this energy on tweaking the current system, rather than abolishing leasehold. We will continue to be looted.
'It's a real worry. Leaseholders are exhausted, and do not want to spend years of their life becoming serial litigators challenging their landlords, which is what would happen here.
'The Government says the reforms will strengthen the arm of leaseholders, but this won't work. These tribunals aren't friendly and leaseholders are sometimes up against KCs, literally the creme de la creme lawyers in the land.'
Posting on X, Jay Silva wrote: 'More dithering. Why do we need more consultations? How many more of them do successive governments want?'
Another user labelled the proposals 'performative nonsense'. They said: 'You said you would abolish leasehold and have not. This is more stalling.'
Last October, Mr Pennycook warned that leasehold reform could take as long as five years, describing it as a 'whole of Parliament commitment'.
In its manifesto, Labour said it would 'ban new leasehold flats and ensure commonhold is the default tenure'. The party went on to reiterate this promise in the King's Speech, also promising to regulate ground rents and to 'act quickly' to implement its reforms.
In May 2023, Lisa Nandy, the former shadow housing secretary, said a future Labour government would bring forward legislation to abolish leasehold within 100 days. But in April, the party quietly dropped this pledge.
The Leaseholders Charity said the Government's latest proposals – which are out for consultation until the end of September – were announced 'with as much enthusiasm as a visit to the dentist'.
There are 4.8 million leasehold properties in England, equivalent to a fifth of the country's housing stock. In 2023-24, leaseholders paid an average annual service charge of £1,720, but some costs spiralled to five figures.
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CHELSEA'S transfer strategy since the take over by Todd Boehly and BlueCo in 2022 has been scattergun to say the least. The new ownership group has installed a clear recruitment plan - buy young players with high potential whatever it costs. 17 The burn and churn policy means Chelsea have a lot of players on their books, which gives manager Enzo Maresca a huge headache. TheItalian coach has made it clear he favours a smaller and tighter squad so that players would be able to build understanding and momentum. Yet the logic of having so many top scouts and sporting directors dictates that more and more players will continue to be brought into the club. They have already strengthened their forward options since the end of the season with Liam Delap from Ipswich for £30m, Joao Pedro from Brighton for £60m, Jamie Gittens from Borussia Dortmund for £48m and Estevao f rom Palmeiras for £52m all coming into the club. 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The Brazilian international is intelligent enough to allow the press to develop before flicking the ball across to a teammate to finish. Joao Pedro will without a doubt bring value to Chelsea going into next season although it remains to be seen exactly how he will be used positionally by Maresca going into next season. Jamie Gittens The 20-year-old English U21 international Jamie Gittens has just moved to Chelsea from Borussia Dortmund in Germany. He played 2,803 minutes in all competitions and he ended with 12 goals and 5 assists. He is naturally right-footed and he typically plays as an attacking left-winger. Chelsea struggled for consistent production from their wingers last season with Noni Madueke arguably being the best wide attacker that they had. Now, Madueke appears to be for sale with several clubs showing significant interest as Chelsea perhaps look to make space for their new arrivals. Gittens is a wide attacker who is at his best when he gets the ball in positions where he can dribble and look to outplay opposition defenders in 1v1 situations. 17 17 Here, we see Gittens receiving the ball out wide in a position where he is faced up 1v1 against the opposition defender. He immediately takes the ball and looks to attack. He is well balanced with quick feet providing real threat in terms of outplaying the defender on either the inside or the outside. Gittens is still not the finished article but he is a young attacking player with genuine and real potential. If he develops properly then he could provide the point of difference in terms of having a real 1v1 threat that Chelsea were missing last season. Often they were too predictable when receiving the ball wide and Gittens is anything but predictable. 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