Going Further on Service Charges

I recently questioned the Housing and Planning Minister, Matthew Pennycook, after the Government published the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. While it’s good to finally see some movement on this, I was clear about one big gap: proper action on soaring service charges.

Since 2018, service charges for flats in England and Wales have shot up by an average of 52%. For nearly five million leaseholders - many of whom bought homes advertised as “affordable”- these rising costs are pushing people to take on extra jobs, or worse, facing threats of forfeiture.

This has now become the number one issue raised with the Leasehold Advisory Service, and it’s something I’m hearing again and again from residents across Newbury and West Berkshire. People are dealing with poor maintenance, managing agents who don’t deliver even the basics, and a system where tenants are mischarged but have almost no power to challenge it.

That kind of insecurity doesn’t just hit your wallet; it takes a real emotional and physical toll.

The Liberal Democrats have long been calling for tougher rules - proper investigations when service charge funds are misused, and stronger oversight of managing agents. The Government says it wants service charge reform as soon as possible, so I pressed the Minister on whether an extra clause could be added to this Bill to finally make it happen.

This draft Bill is a step in the right direction, but if it’s going to deliver real fairness for leaseholders, the Government needs to be bolder and go further.