Former housing secretaries Angela Rayner and Lord Michael Gove will give evidence to Housing Committee on Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill next week.
On Tuesday, 3 March, the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee questions former Secretaries of State Angela Rayner MP and Lord Gove as the committee begins the evidence sessions for its inquiry examining the Government’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
The cross-party Committee will also question leasehold and ‘fleecehold’ campaigners and the Residential Freehold Association (the full witness list is included below).
The Committee has published correspondence from Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, which responds to points raised by correspondence from Florence Eshalomi, Chair of the HCLG Committee, requesting a range of information to help support the Committee’s scrutiny of the draft Bill.
The opening session on Tuesday morning will be focussing on the theme of strengthening leaseholders’ rights and “bringing the feudal leasehold system to an end”, with the Committee likely to explore questions around the draft Bill proposals to cap ground rents, the issue of implementing the remaining Law Commission recommendations on leasehold enfranchisement, and privately managed housing estate charges and ‘fleecehold’.
MPs are also likely to take the opportunity to ask for witness views on the regulation of management agents.
The Committee formally invited Grosvenor Property and TIME Investments to give evidence on Tuesday 3 March (letters published on the publications page). TIME Investments have declined to appear but have said they will provide written evidence. Grosvenor Property have submitted written evidence and have indicated they would be available to appear at a future session of the inquiry, subject to the Committee’s agreement.
Witnesses
(Timings for each panel are advisory)
From 9.45am
+ Catherine Williams OBE, Co-Founder, National Leasehold Campaign
+ Liam Spender, lawyer and campaigner, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership.
From 10.05am
+ Harry Scoffin, Founder, Free Leaseholders
+ Halima Ali, Joint Campaign Coordinator, HorNets – Home Owners Rights Network
From 10.25am
+ Charmaine McQueen-Prince, Chair of the Leasehold Reform Subcommittee, Residential Freehold Association.
From 10.55am
+ The Rt Hon Lord Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
+ The Rt Hon Angela Rayner MP, former Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government.