Richard presses CMA about banning non-adoption by local authorities as a way of fixing the issue of estate management charges for home owners

Last week the Bill Committee examining the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Bill, of which Richard is a member, heard evidence from a number of interested and related parties, including George Lusty, Senior Director for Consumer Enforcement at the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Richard took the opportunity to question Mr. Lusty about banning non-adoption by Local Authorities to resolve the issue of estate management charges for home owners. The exchange can be watched at https://youtu.be/BCzaboxNEVU

In November, the CMA published the first in a series of ‘working papers’ which sought feedback on potential solutions to problems with new build estate management and the charges households are required to pay.

Options set out in the working paper, were:

1. Strengthening consumer protections for households paying estate management charges – including giving people the power to challenge shoddy work, unreasonable charges and receive information over how they are set.
2. Increasing the extent to which amenities on new build estates are adopted by councils, which would remove the requirement for households to pay estate management charges.

Richard Fuller MP said:

It was this second option of Local Authorities not adopting new estates that I particularly highlighted with Mr. Lusty. I suggested that an immediate solution would be to ban non-adoption by Local Authorities as a foolproof and immediate way of fixing the issue of estate management charges for home owners.

For more information on the Bill Committee's work, please visit this page. To find out how Richard has campaigned to change the law for freeholders, please visit this page.