North Swindon MP Welcomes The End Of Unfair Practices In The Sale Of Leasehold Homes

Justin Tomlinson, MP for North Swindon, has welcomed the recent announcement by the Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, that the Government will be introducing a series of new measures to tackle the unfair practices in the sale of leasehold houses.

In many cases new homes are being built and are sold on in this way, with some of them being sold to new home buyers who are left with unfair agreements that lead to exploitative surcharges and spiralling ground rents. Under the new system these practices will be stopped and the procedural implications of buying a leasehold home will be simplified.

Following these announcements, the Government is putting forward changes that will help make sure leaseholds work in the best interests of homebuyers, including moving to ban the sale of new build leasehold homes except in exceptional circumstances. They also include consulting on measures to cap ground rents on new leases to smaller, manageable payments.

Justin who has been an active campaigner on these issues for quite some time and has progressed these causes through his work on the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on leasehold reform, believes that these announcements are positive steps for home buyers in new build areas, but that ever measure available should be taken to support those already caught out in these unfair practices.

As Swindon has continued to expand with an increasing number of new build housing developments, Justin has raised these issues in Parliamentary questions to ministers, as well as organising public meetings alongside Cherry Jones from Home to Home Property Management, who has worked tirelessly to ensure local residents are not disadvantaged by these types of agreements.

Justin Tomlinson MP said: “Representing areas in North Swindon, which include new build developments, first as a local councillor for 10 years and now as MP for 7 years, I have been contacted throughout that time by many residents who are put in unjust positions with their housing agreements that leave them having to pay charges which are left in the fine print, while things like ground rent rise substantially. This has been a major issue of focus for me as an MP, as it has impacted many of the new build developments in Swindon. What can be done to support those who are already disadvantaged by these practices, absolutely should be done, but I am glad going forward this is something new home buyers can be protected against.”

Sajid Javid MP, Communities secretary said: “It’s clear that far too many new houses are being built and sold as leaseholds, exploiting home buyers with unfair agreements and spiralling ground rents. Enough is enough. These practices are unjust, unnecessary and need to stop. Our proposed changes will help make sure leasehold works in the best interests of homebuyers now and in the future.”