Category: Press Releases

Tuesday 17^th June 2025

Today HorNets were represented by Halima Ali at the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government select committee examining regulation of property managers. Whilst they were looking at the whole area to include estate agents, landlords agents, leasehold managers and commonhold managers there was a strong focus on estate management, possibly because of the complete absence of regulation in this area.

Halima gave evidence concerning the lack of accountability and transparency but also the lack of choice of manager and the need for adoption of estates with public areas – the commonest scenario in our experience. She was able to quote from our data and from the experiences of our many supporters. She explained that the presence of an estate charge adversely affects saleability and resale value of a home burdened with an estate charge, and the concern HorNet has that a two tier system will develop if nothing is done for existing estates to get them adopted. She proposed that RTM could be a stepping stone towards adoption of existing privately managed estates.

Other panel members supported all she had to say and more about the need for adoption and also regulation “with teeth”. Such regulation would benefit leaseholders and other groups as well.

Lord Best admitted his report of 6 years ago didn’t really have anything specific about estate management, but that it should be included now.

The CMA representative outlined their recommendations to government again, regarding more adoption and better regulation. Councillor Carys Thomas urged mandatory adoption and building estates to adoption standards in any event – no more cutting corners to increase return on the site.

The committee members (made up of MPs) indicated they hear about the problems of privately managed estates frequently – it is clear the problems are well known and that the government needs to start examining solutions at speed.

We are delighted that the idea of estate charges being a separate and different issue from leasehold matters has finally made it into parliamentary thinking. We will continue to press for the changes needed to end private management of public estates, and for regulation and redress for truly private estates.

The hearing was in two parts and it is worth listening to both as the second part had a lot more about estate charges in many ways.

In response to pressure and in spite of support from his friends at LKP, the Housing Minister was forced to defend how slowly and inadequately his department is acting to “quickly” implement the last government’s Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (LAFRA) and also bring to an end the injustice of “fleecehold”. You can read his statement of 21st November 2024 here.

You will see there is very little to suggest anything other than more talking, in spite of the government handing the big builders a shopping basket of 1.5M homes – all with a bonus injustice? Estate management charges seem to have somehow become “son of leasehold” in spite of our campaign for adoption and the findings of the CMA.

We say this: