Homeownership shouldn’t be a life sentence – the government must go further on leasehold reform
Tower block in Lancashire (Alamy)
3 min read
When I bought my first flat more than 20 years ago, I remember the joy of picking up the keys and sleeping on a mattress on the floor for the first few weeks while I saved for a bed.
It was modest, but it was mine, and I was proud to have made it on to the property ladder. I was also lucky. I bought the freehold, so I never faced the nightmare of spiralling service charges or the bureaucratic tangle of a faceless management company.
For thousands of homeowners across the country, however, that dream of homeownership has turned into a financial trap. Leaseholders on private estates are being squeezed by ever-increasing property service charges and limited power to challenge unfair costs. Many are stuck in homes they can’t afford and can’t sell – victims of a system that prioritises profit over fairness.
In my constituency of Reigate, residents of Park 25 in Redhill know this all too well. The development, built around 18 years ago, looks idyllic at first glance: modern homes, green spaces, and proximity to East Surrey hospital.
But beneath the surface lies a deeply unjust system. Because the local authority never adopted the communal land, residents must pay a private company, FirstPort, hefty annual service charges to maintain shared areas.
Those costs have skyrocketed. One resident told me their charges rose from £2,200 to £3,600 a year – a 70 per cent increase – for basic services like grass-cutting and buildings insurance. Add the cost of communal heating and the annual bill can reach £8,000. He was unable to sell his property for over two years because of the charges and is now renting out his flat at a loss. Another resident faced similar hikes, saw three property sales collapse because of them, and has had to resort to moving back in with her family. These stories aren’t isolated – they’re emblematic of a broken system.
What makes this worse is that residents in some of the properties affected already pay council tax for many of the same services, yet they have no real way to hold these property service companies to account.
If they want to challenge unfair charges, they face an uphill legal and bureaucratic battle. Even where there are formal routes of redress, residents are often advised to form associations requiring consent from over half of leaseholders, many of whom rent their properties out and can’t easily be reached. It’s an impossible task.
The result is an industry with all the power and none of the accountability. And because homeowners can’t easily change provider, there’s no competitive pressure to deliver value for money.
It’s time for change. First, we need to make it easier for leaseholders to remove or replace property service companies that fail to deliver. Secondly, we need far greater transparency. Every resident should be able to see exactly what they’re paying for and why. But most importantly, we must change the underlying model.
New housing developments should not be built on this inequitable foundation. Local authorities should, as a default, adopt communal land and infrastructure once construction is complete, ensuring that homeowners pay for local services only once, through their council tax. Developers, in turn, should be required to meet council standards before any handover.
That single step would prevent thousands more families from being trapped.
The government has made progress on leasehold reform, but the job isn’t done. Every month that passes, more people find themselves locked into this system, paying twice for the same services, with no power to change their circumstances.
The stories I hear from residents are not just about money; they are about dignity, security and the right to move on with their lives. The law as it stands allows exploitation. That is a travesty – and it must end.
Rebecca Paul is Conservative MP for Reigate
