Lease Abolition Vote Forced After Government Abandons Plans | British News
Labor is looking to force a vote to end tenancies after the government backed out on promises to abolish them.
Last week Housing Secretary Michael Gove appeared to confirm reports that he would abandon plans to abolish the tenancy system – although he described it as an “obsolete feudal system that needs to be abolished”.
Now the opposition wants to force a vote on the abolition of leases and describes the watering down of the rent reform plans as a “scandal”.
Tomorrow Labor will table a vote on an amendment that would ask Mr Gove to keep his promise “by ending the sale of new private rental housing, introducing a workable system to replace private rental housing with condominiums and adopting the Justice Commission’s recommendations on the… enacts the right to vote.” , common property and the right to full administration.
Leasehold gives the homeowner the right to live in a property for a specified number of years. However, there are growing concerns about the practices, including high fees and a lack of transparency.
Downing Street forced Mr Gove to abandon the lease plans because there was not enough time to complete them before the next general election.
He wanted to replace the heritable building right for apartments with a “community system”. It is used in other countries and would allow owners to collectively decide what happens in common areas of the building.
Currently, apartment owners may have to pay thousands to repair common areas, even if they don’t agree with the work being done.
Shadow Housing Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “It is nothing short of scandalous that despite almost universal agreement that tenancy is a feudal form of ownership that should be a thing of the past, there is still no timetable for ending leases on new builds. “ Introduce a viable system of community ownership to replace existing rental housing.
“We cannot have any more delays or broken promises due to disputes within government.”
“MPs from all parties can join Labor and vote to end the tenancy system, fully implement the Justice Commission’s recommendations and bring long-overdue justice to millions of families.”
A spokesman for the Department for Leveling, Housing and Communities said: “We will move forward with tenancy reforms later in this Parliament, consistent with our Manifesto Commitment.”
“As the Secretary of State has made clear many times in the House of Representatives, we stand by our promise to better protect tenants and give them the ability to take action against unreasonable costs and make it easier and cheaper for them to renew their lease or own their property acquire.”
“These build on the significant improvements we have already made in the market – including the elimination of ground rents on most new residential leases.”
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