Angela Rayner announces leasehold fee caps

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner has announced new measures to cap 'rip off' leasehold fees and regulate property agents. Speaking at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, she confirmed plans to confront what she called the scandal faced by millions of leaseholders.

The government will enable councils to redirect homeless households to other social housing providers to reduce reliance on temporary accommodation. A new duty will also require public services to work together to provide wraparound support to prevent homelessness before families reach a crisis point. Registered providers will only be able to reject a council's referral if they can show reasonable grounds. Rayner stated that 180,000 children are growing up in temporary accommodation. She also said more than 300,000 homes are empty long term and that councils will gain powers to bring them back into use for families in need.

Leasehold reform to end exploitative fees

New legislation will cap and eventually scrap ground rents for leaseholders. It will also cap outrageous administration and permission fees, which cover charges for cosmetic changes and for requesting documents like building safety certificates. Rayner cited examples of leaseholders being charged hundreds of pounds for simple home alterations.

She stated that some leaseholders pay hundreds or thousands of pounds yearly to unaccountable investors for nothing in return. The government is already legislating to ban new leasehold flats, having described the system as 'feudal' in its election manifesto. Through the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, ministers aim to establish a commonhold system where residents collectively own and manage buildings. A consultation will be launched to cap the administrative fees Rayner labelled as exploitative.

Regulation of property and managing agents

Estate agents, letting agents, and managing agents will face independent regulation and mandatory licensing. Rayner said the sector includes many decent businesses but is undermined by unqualified and unregulated agents who take thousands from clients and mishandle money with no transparency. She described managing agents as including 'far too many cowboys, crooks and con artists'.

Legislation will introduce an independent regulator for property agents, with licence holders required to follow rules or lose their right to operate. The changes will cover an estimated five million leaseholders in England and Wales. Danny Pinder, director of policy at Real Estate:UK, said they were glad to hear the announcement of a new regulator for managing agents. He said their members build professionally managed, modern, high-quality homes for rent and are raising industry standards, calling the move a welcome step.

Support for first-time buyers and social housing protection

The government announced a 'Your First Home' initiative to help young people without family wealth get on the property ladder. The scheme will assist with deposits and support working people. However, Ben Cooper, head of the Fabian Housing Centre, suggested uptake could be slower than previous schemes like Help to Buy. He said young people were 'very sceptical' of government loans after negative experiences with student loan repayments.

Separately, new rules will aim to stop social homes from being lost when housing providers sell them. The government plans to make it easier for councils to buy these homes. A proposed amendment to the Social Housing Bill would force housing associations to give eight weeks' notice when selling a social home, doubling the current expected notice period of four weeks. Rayner referred to her broader plans as 'unfinished business'. A consultation will be launched to cap 'rip off' administrative fees for leaseholders.