Contributions
829 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)I think the law has done a pretty good job of that over the years.16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Mr Brewis, I think we all welcome the FCA’s work to try and make things more equitable for leaseholders, so thank you for your endeavours there. I am sure you will be familiar…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Okay. Should there be a case in which an FCA broker is unable to provide a written contract to a first-tier tribunal, would you find that strange? Matt Brewis: Yes.16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Thank you. After a three-year campaign, that poor leaseholder managed to find out, through the leasehold tribunal, that £1.6 million had been paid to her landlord for the…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q How do you do that if you cannot get a written contract? Matt Brewis: Under our new rules, which came into force at the start of this year, that needs to be provided.16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q But that is not actually here in the Bill, is it? Would it be helpful if, under clause 31 or at another appropriate place, we were to say that a written copy of any insurance…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q But the Bill does not. Matt Brewis: I believe that would be duplication of a clause that is already in the new rules from the regulator, which require a broker to provide that…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q No, sorry; there is a distinction here. You are talking about the broker providing it to the landlord; I am talking about the landlord providing it to the leaseholder. If you…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q To be absolutely clear: a leaseholder can write to the insurer—the insurance company—to obtain a copy of the contract that their landlord has, which insures their property? Matt…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Does that rely on the landlord telling the leaseholder who the contract is with? Matt Brewis: Which insurer it is?16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Yes. Matt Brewis: Oh, goodness.16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Because at the moment, there is no compulsion on the landlord to do that, is there? It is certainly not in this Bill. Matt Brewis: If you follow that chain of events, when they…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Then the leaseholder has no access to the contract. Matt Brewis: One would hope—expect—that it is a very low-likelihood situation, but that would be the case.16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q We have made legislation on the basis of optimism before, and it has not proved successful. Matt Brewis: For some buildings that have material issues around fire safety or other…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Of course, those fees for insurance services are chargeable under clause 31, in proposed new section 20G of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985, but there is nothing in the Bill…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q God bless the Secretary of State! So we are waiting to see whether the Secretary of State introduces the word “reasonable”—or would it not be better to have the word on the face…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Halima and then Cathy, let me pick up this business of the fleecehold estates, as you refer to them. They are a relatively new thing in leasehold; they were not there in the…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q I understand what you are saying, but I am referring specifically to when a council makes available land that has been publicly owned by it to developers for development and…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Mr Scoffin, you talked about this issue having wasted six years of your life; I think it has only wasted about 25 years of mine, since before the 2002 Act. You spoke about…16 Jan 2024HANSARDLeasehold and Freehold Reform Bill (Second sitting)Q Was forfeiture not part of the 2002 Act? Harry Scoffin: Yes. They draw it out. There is a process now in the courts, where you can go, “Oh, I forgot to pay it” or “Here’s the…16 Jan 2024