Manchester Withington MP Jeff Smith is encouraging constituents to submit evidence to a parliamentary inquiry into the Government’s proposed leasehold reforms.

There are almost 4 million leasehold homes in England, often new build properties bought with the assistance of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme.  Leaseholders often come up against significant issues such as excessive ground rent increases and barriers to buying the freeholds to their properties.

The Government committed to introducing a ban on new leaseholds for almost all new properties in December 2017 and is working with the Law Commission to draw up new policies to help existing leaseholders. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee will examine the effectiveness of the existing proposals and find out what more can be done to ensure fairness in the system.

Commenting on the inquiry, Jeff said:

“Government action on leasehold reform is well overdue. Many residents in south Manchester feel trapped in leasehold arrangements with increasing ground rents and barriers to owning their own home.

This select committee inquiry is a great opportunity for residents affected by this scandal to feed directly into the Committee’s work, which will influence the Government’s proposals brought forward next year. 

If you would like any further information on how to submit evidence to an inquiry like this, please do get in touch and my team would be happy to help.” 

For more information about the MHCLG Select Committee inquiry, visit their website here. The deadline for submissions in September 7^th.