Westminster Life: Standing up for leaseholders
Across our region, many leaseholders are facing eye-watering service charge increases and poor management from property companies that seem to put profit before people, writes Sam Carling, MP for North West Cambridgeshire.
These concerns have been raised time and time again by residents in Hampton and beyond – and it’s clear that urgent action is needed.
One of the main companies residents raise with me is FirstPort, the UK’s largest residential property management company, which oversees more than 300,000 homes. Alongside Labour colleagues, I have been pushing for better service, transparency, and accountability from managing agents like FirstPort, through calling them in to meet us in Parliament and confronting them with the details of residents’ concerns.
FirstPort has now been suspended from its trade body for three months – a significant step that shows the industry is waking up to how poorly residents have been treated.
For too long, leaseholders have felt powerless in the face of soaring fees and substandard service. Many have seen their charges rise by more than 50% in a year with no clear explanation. Others have struggled to get essential maintenance completed, and countless residents have been left frustrated by unresponsive management. It’s simply not good enough.
That’s why I have joined my Labour colleagues in holding FirstPort – and other management firms – to account. We have demanded that FirstPort meet with us, provide greater transparency on service charges, and commit to clear performance targets. We have also pushed for a formal channel for MPs to escalate individual cases where residents are being ignored. Following these efforts, FirstPort has now agreed to a series of commitments to improve its service, but we will continue to monitor their progress closely.
Leasehold reform is long overdue, and Labour is determined to fix this broken system. Housing minister Matthew Pennycook has, this week, set out key reforms, including new rights and protections for leaseholders, as well as powers to challenge unfair costs. Many of these changes make it easier for leaseholders to take over management of shared areas themselves without the need for a managing company at all, through a mechanism called Right to Manage. The requirement for leaseholders to cover freeholders’ legal costs when going through this process will be removed, and we’ve made more people’s homes eligible for Right to Manage. These changes will help drive up standards and ensure that managing agents are properly held to account.
We need stronger regulation of managing agents, better protections for leaseholders, and an end to unfair practices that see residents treated as little more than cash cows. The Government has promised changes, and I will continue to push for real reform to ensure that managing agents are properly held to account.
If you have been affected by unreasonable service charges, poor maintenance, or other issues with your property management company, please do get in touch. The more evidence we gather, the stronger our case for change. Please send me the details at [email protected], and I will do everything I can to help press for action.