Comment attributable to Martin Boyd, Chairman of LEASE, a government funded advisory body, providing free expert guidance to leaseholders.
“The most frequent concerns raised by leaseholders seeking our specialist advice relate to fees, charges, and the quality of service delivery. Homeowners deserve better and the current system needs to change.
“Leaseholders facing budgetary constraints are regularly caught off guard by service charge increases and requests for major works. They need a system that gives them more recourse to scrutinise, challenge and influence costs.
“The current system favours landlords. Leaseholders face complex and often opaque systems when trying to raise concerns and have little real power to hold managing agents to account. With no direct obligation to those footing the bill, some agents act with impunity. Leaseholders regularly report unacceptable behaviour, ranging from aggressive conduct to outright abuse. Any action that enhances transparency to rebalance power when it comes to addressing concerns and inaction will be welcomed by homeowners.
“In support of this consultation, we will be providing the government with leaseholder insights on fees, charges and services. Leaseholders deserve decisive action from the government on how to make the system fairer, combat unethical managing agents and remove the significant barriers to challenging charges and standards of service.”
ENDS
For an interview with Martin Boyd on the launch of this consultation or further legal clarification on the consultation from a LEASE Senior Legal Advisor, please contact LEASE@anotherword.com.
