Earlier today, Andrew Rosindell M.P. made a contribution in the House of Commons, during the report stage of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill. He made reference to the plight of residents in the Steelway Apartments and Rubicon Court, who have been served an injustice through the neglect of their respective property management firms.
On social media, Andrew made the following comment:
This week I spoke in @HouseofCommons to support leaseholders in Romford who are rightly demanding reform of current laws. Steelway Apartments and Rubicon Court in Romford town centre are examples of where legislation is not adequate in protecting leaseholder’s rights. Although the government’s new Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill is a major step in the right direction, there is still more that needs to be done and I will continue to work in support of my leaseholder constituents to bring about further protections, via secondary legislation. I will also fight for further reforms!
For a full excerpt of Andrew's contributions, as well as the reply of Lee Rowley M.P., Minister of State for Housing, see below:
It is a pleasure to follow Ms Brown. We share a similar part of the world: Essex and the east of London. In Romford, just as in West Ham and the London boroughs to the east of the capital, we have seen a huge increase in the number of flats and high-rise blocks being built over the last 20 years. Havering is a town and country borough and we have not had many flats in the past, but suddenly we are seeing huge numbers of that kind of accommodation being built. This brings huge numbers of problems with it, including what we are debating today.
I thank the Minister for bringing this Bill forward. I hope that it will deal with many of the issues that colleagues across the House have raised today, because they are very real. I sense that there is consensus on both sides of the House that serious action needs to be taken, because this can really destroy people’s lives and ruin them; they have saved to buy a property and they have a leasehold, yet they are fleeced by sharks and managing agents who pile on the costs, and by armies of lawyers who make their lives miserable and threaten them with losing their property all together. This is not right for the people we all represent.
I am now dealing with these cases in Romford on a daily basis. The hon. Lady mentioned many of the problems in West Ham, and I have examples in the Steelway apartments in the centre of Romford. I visited those apartments only a few weeks ago and saw the problems that people there are facing. They are failing to get responses from the management agents and those responsible, they are paying money for no service, and they are being ripped off by management agents who are not doing the job they are paid to do. I went to Rubicon Court, a fairly new development built only a few years ago, and was shocked—absolutely flabbergasted —to see how badly the residents are being looked after. The service they are paying for has completely failed. I saw mould, rats, rubbish and CCTV cameras that do not work. That is not acceptable and, when the Bill is passed into law, I hope the Minister will ensure that it is effective. It is no good passing legislation unless it is effective and comes into force quickly.
I have concerns about the speed with which this legislation will be enacted. People are suffering and living in terrible conditions, and they are spending huge sums from their savings to deal with these problems. Will the Minister assure the House that there will be an effective way to implement the Bill quickly? Will he also consider the points that many Members have raised about those who could lose their property? What a horrific prospect it is for people who have saved to buy their leasehold that, because of the issues we have discussed, they are bullied and threatened with losing the property they have worked so hard to purchase.
There are so many issues, and I hope the Minister will take on board everything that has been said today. This is a cross-party issue, and we want the best for our constituents who live in these properties and whose lives are made very difficult by the current system. I hope this Bill will improve the lives of all our constituents, and the Minister will have my full support in anything further he can do to ensure that people in Romford, and in every constituency represented here today, are able to live better lives. People should not wake up with the feeling that everything they have saved for their future is being lost because of deficient legislation and a failure to enforce the law.
I have spent a lot of time visiting Romford residents in recent months, and I visited many of these places. I intend to go back because, if there is one thing I have learned about being a Member of Parliament, it is that we are here to serve the people we represent. I am very proud to serve the good people of Romford.
Andrew Rosindell, Member of Parliament for Romford
With the leave of the House, let me start by thanking all Members for their contributions to the debate. The breadth of discussion across the House has shown that while we can discuss precisely how far we should go, there is a general consensus that progress needs to be made, and I think all Members will accept that it has been and is being made in the Bill.
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Ms Brown, my hon. Friend Andrew Rosindell, my right hon. Friend Vicky Ford and my hon. Friend David Simmonds highlighted the huge inequity that is affecting individuals in individual blocks in their constituencies. That inequity is exactly the reason why we must make progress, and I hope that the Bill is a good proposition for that to happen.
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In the time I have left, knowing that other parties and other traditions represented in this House will make similar cases—it is a shared endeavour in this area—I want again to make the Conservative case for leasehold reform. Building on our proud heritage of reform, it is a Conservative Government who are bringing forward the most transformational proposals for improving the lives of millions of leaseholders. It is a Conservative Government who are building the case for change to deal with the iniquities present on new estates, and who are committed to setting ordinary families free from unnecessary burdens. It is a Conservative Government who have brought forward one of the most comprehensive changes to property in a generation.Why have we come forward with these proposals? It is precisely because it is a Conservative thing to do. We are cautious about interfering in the markets, for fear of unintended consequences or the creation of barriers. We know that no Government can ever fix every problem, but when we are convinced about the case for reform, we will fight for it with every sinew. At the heart of being a Conservative is the desire to smash monopolies and remove bad practice. We will celebrate where things work well, but we will joyfully remove distortions that are exploited by chancers and rogues. We will constrain rent seekers and middlemen, who add little to the basic economic exchange of goods and services that is at the heart of our economy.
Fundamentally, we are committed to making our markets more perfect and, as a consequence, to setting people free to make their own choices, live their lives and build their own future. Leasehold has been exploited for far too long by those who have no interest in the good functioning of capitalism. The lack of transparency, clarity and redress in freehold estate charges causes frustration up and down the land, and it does nothing for the efficient functioning of markets. That is why we are reforming.
Adam Smith talked of ground rents as monopolistic in 1776, Hayek reminded us in 1944 of the importance of making competition work and of not accepting institutions as they stand and, as my hon. Friend the Member for Harborough indicated, Margaret Thatcher asserted in 1982 that there is no prouder word in our history as Conservatives than “freeholder”. That is the centuries-long call as to why we have to make further improvements to our property system. With this Bill, in the true spirit of thousands of Conservative reforms that have made this country better, we are sending a clear signal that change for the better is coming and will benefit millions of people for the long term. That is only possible because of all the hard work of all the officials, all the people in the Law Commission and my opposite number, the hon. Member for Greenwich and Woolwich, who has been extremely constructive on this Bill.
I give huge thanks to Professor Nick Hopkins; Tom Nicholls and Chris Pulman at the Law Commission; officials in the Department, led by Robin Froggatt-Smith; my private office, including Grace Doody; and Members from across the House for their valuable input. Although I have just made the Conservative case for reform, we know that this is a shared endeavour among us all, which is why there is an unusual amount of unanimity in this place. It demonstrates the importance of our continuing to make progress on this issue.
As the Bill moves to the other place, I hope that those sat in the other place take note of the consensus and keenness here to ensure that progress is made. I hope they also take note of the importance of ensuring that the Bill continues and of the very many great reforms that are in it already. This demonstrates that together, as a broad group all across this House, we are committed to ensuring that leasehold reform happens, that leaseholders get a better deal and that the estate managers, estate management and freehold estates get clearer transparency, clearer information and a clear understanding of how they can live their lives and set themselves free in the future.
Lee Rowley M.P., Minister of State for Housing
