Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government what assessment he has made of the ability of
tenants to manage service charges and leaseholder responsibilities after
purchasing leasehold properties under the Right to Buy scheme.
Kris Hopkins: The Government has been clear that Right to
Buy applicants must be provided with information on both the benefits and the
responsibilities that homeownership brings. Our Right to Buy booklets—‘Want to
make your home your own?’ and ‘Thinking of buying a council flat?’—provide
tenants with advice and tools to help them work out the costs of homeownership.
The booklets are available free from social landlords or can be downloaded at:
The Housing Act 1985 includes a number of duties for
social housing landlords on supporting potential Right to Buy leaseholders.
Social housing landlords must provide all tenants with a document containing
information on leaseholder responsibilities and other matters, to assist them
in making their decision. As part of the offer notice to a Right to Buy
applicant, landlords must also provide an estimate of service charges for the
first five years of ownership.
The Department is currently considering the responses to
its recent consultation on proposals to cap leaseholder charges at £10,000
outside London (and £15,000 in London) where the works to tenanted homes
receive future government funding. I would expect social landlords to ensure
that leaseholder charges are always proportionate and rational, and deliver
good value for money.
Ministers are open to representations on what further
steps can be taken to help public sector leaseholders.
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