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Leaseholders' Rights Bill

My hon. Friend the Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey (Simon Hughes) was keen to participate in this debate, but he has had to leave to attend an important constituency engagement. He was a sponsor of the Bill, and was pleased to be here this morning when the hon. Member for Beckenham (Mrs. Lait) introduced the Bill. He is a keen supporter of the Bill mainly because it would shift the balance between overbearing councils or housing associations and leaseholders, who are often left out of the process. It would empower them to have more of a say, and that cannot be a bad thing. The Bill is not a threat or a challenge: it would just give leaseholders the right to be involved and put forward alternatives. For example, it would give them the right to prepare an alternative proposal, which is innocuous enough. In fact, it could be advantageous by allowing the council to see other options. The Bill would also give leaseholders the right to a ballot on the decision. The right to transparency on the details would not be threatening either, and councils and housing associations should be prepared to be challenged about past work so that they can be sure that they have got value for money. The Bill also proposes a budget to ensure that the bill for works in any one year is not unaffordable. When we set out national programmes, we often fail to consider leaseholders—the many thousands of people who have bought a house and who should be consulted. It is not threatening to have to engage them in deciding on best practice. Indeed, it could be very constructive. The Bill also includes a low-cost arbitration process. The pressure from tenants to improve and upgrade houses is immense. I have people coming to my surgeries every week to demand more and more for their houses—rightly, because some of the houses are in poor condition. But that pressure is different for leaseholders, who want to weigh the balance between the effect of spending that money and the cost of it to their own purse. In the narrow sense, tenants do not have that consideration—although of course in the global sense they do. That is why leaseholders need to be fully engaged in the process. The councils and housing associations are under great pressure to deliver. We politicians hold them to account for what they do on a day-to-day basis, and if they fail to live up to the mark, they can be kicked out in the elections. That pressure to perform often means that leaseholders are overridden—seen as a minor irritant in the way of progress. That is why we need this sensible and reasonable Bill. As I have said, it includes provisions on ballots; transparency; budget limits for one year; low-cost arbitration; and the right to be consulted. It may not deal with every point, but it is not a threat to the Government, councils or housing associations. Rather, they should welcome this contribution and engagement with the process. They should see leaseholders as valued partners, not as threats or irritants. That is why the Liberal Democrats support the Bill.