THE plight of residents on a controversial Whitchurch housing estate has helped to secure a Parliamentary debate about management fees.
Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, is urging the Government to ‘hurry up and change the law’ to protect homeowners from expensive estate management fees following issues suffered by residents living on The Brambles development off Chester Road.
She brought up the example after residents faced a five-figure sum in order to get their sewage connected to Welsh Water’s network after the original connection was illegal and it broke.
The issue – known as a ‘fleecehold’ – is one of the many issues the resident there have faced and Mrs Morgan is hoping to bring an end to the practice.
She said: “There is currently a legislative desert in this area, leaving homeowners in this situation with nowhere to turn to.
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“There are multiple shocking examples on this situation in North Shropshire and the Government’s delay to introduce legislation helping them has left people in nightmare situations.
“I am pleased that the Minister once again pledged to legislate for changes as it cannot come soon enough.”
The Government has previously promised to give freeholders the equivalent rights to leaseholders to challenge the reasonableness of management fees. But they have failed to bring forward legislation six years after promising action.
At the end of Mrs Morgan’s debate the Minister for Housing and Planning pledged to legislate for changes to the law to better allow freeholders to challenge the reasonableness of charges in the next Parliamentary session.
She has also called for the Government to encourage local authorities to ensure that there is a plan for the adoption of roads, streetlights and play areas, and that either Section 106 or CIL monies are obtained from developers to ensure that they can be upkept in future.
Mrs Morgan also demanded cost effective legal remedies be made available to homeowners trapped in these arrangements to be included in the forthcoming Leasehold Reform Bill.
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