From Tuesday this week, Richard began scrutinising the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill as part of the Public Bill Committee established to look at the Bill.
Richard Fuller MP said:
Over recent years I have worked hard to galvanise cross-party support for reform of estate management fees charged to freehold homeowners. In Autumn last year along with local councillors Jim Weir, Sarah Gallagher, Leigh Coombs and Jon Gambold, I presented a petition to the Prime Minister which successfully called for legislation in this area to be included in November's King's Speech.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill has now reached Committee stage in the House of Commons and I am very pleased to have been asked to sit on that committee.
From Tuesday we will begin scrutinising the Bill line by line, and I will also be adding my own amendments to ensure that this legislation meets the needs of those homeowners who for too long have been subjected to unfair and opaque management fees by unaccountable estate management companies.
Public Bill Committees give a line-by-line consideration of the detail of the Bill and take oral and written evidence from witnesses. The committee, which will sit for three weeks, will decide whether each clause of the bill should remain in it, and will consider any amendments tabled by the government or other members.
The Bill, as introduced can be read https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3523/publications. The Bill will establish a new statutory regime for freehold homeowners based on the rights that leaseholders already have. This will ensure that estate management charges must be reasonable and service quality of an acceptable standard. There will also be a right to challenge the reasonableness of charges at the property tribunal.
