Contributions
1,131 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARD Leasehold ReformI am tempted to say yes. What we said in the report was that we need to move to a whole new approach, where commonhold becomes the default option for flats, we abolish leasehold…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformAbsolutely. We have said that we think there ought to be retrospective changes to the permission charges and the ground rents where they are clearly onerous. The Competition and…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformAbsolutely right. I will take that up, and I think we can write directly to the CMA as well. Obviously, the Government will get a copy of the report and will respond. We will make…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformYes. I too thank the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership for its work. My hon. Friend is absolutely right. Houses are being mis-sold in the first place. Then, when people are in a…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformWe took evidence on that. There are caveats and conditions on human rights legislation. If there is a general good to be obtained, that can outweigh the particular interest of…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformThere are circumstances where leaseholders can do that—ultimately, they could move to a form of commonhold, although that requires substantial agreement among themselves, and many…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformWe need something simple, and the Law Commission has been asked to consider that issue because something as simple as a multiple of ground rent might not be fair. The freeholders…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformThe word “scandal” is absolutely right to describe the way some of these developers have behaved. Hopefully action will follow quickly from the Law Commission’s report, and the…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformWe did consider that, and we said that although such voluntary agreements might be a step forward, they were not sufficient and they were not as good as our proposals to restrict…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformAbsolutely. It is a complete scandal, and a number of developers have blatantly admitted that they sold on the property and did not tell the leaseholders what was being done.…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformOn the first point, if a leaseholder at a tribunal asks at the beginning for a ruling that, if they win, costs cannot be passed on to the freeholder, the tribunal can so rule. The…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformYes. We called for an investigation into mis-selling, as did the Government. Let us hope that, between us, we get that done, particularly for older people who may not have…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformThe point about the costs of legal action not being recoverable from leaseholders is made in our report, and I welcome the idea of a longer debate on that issue—perhaps once the…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformWe feel it is necessary not simply that we have a number of individual recommendations, but that the Government now call on, invite and fund the Law Commission to conduct a more…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformWe made it clear right at the beginning of our report that there should be a clear explanation from the seller of what extra charges there might be for the future maintenance of…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Leasehold ReformI thank the Backbench Business Committee for making time for this statement. Last Tuesday, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee published our 12th report of…21 Mar 2019HANSARDTrain Operating Companies: SanctionsPoor performance is not just down to the operating companies. Peak-time trains between Sheffield and London are running slower than they were a year ago because of the botched…21 Mar 2019HANSARD Exiting the European UnionI refer the Minister to a sentence in his statement, when he said: “The first provides confirmation that the EU cannot try to trap the UK in the backstop indefinitely”. There are…11 Mar 2019HANSARD Housing Associations and Public Contractors: Freedom of InformationI call the Minister. I hope that she will allow a couple of minutes at the end for the hon. Member for Hammersmith (Andy Slaughter) to wind up the debate.06 Mar 2019HANSARD Leaving the EU: Protection for WorkersI actually whipped the minimum wage Bill through Committee on that occasion, so I well remember Conservative hostility to it. What the Secretary of State is really promising today…06 Mar 2019