UK’s Commonhold Council on home ownership laws has not met ‘for over a year’

An master committee group up to counsel ministers connected really to alteration Britain’s archaic location ownership laws has not met for complete a year, The Guardian Can reveal, arsenic campaigners pass The rumor is slipping down The government’s agenda.

The Commonhold Council – a sheet of 11 group from The spot industry, The ineligible occupation and academia – was convened in 2021 arsenic ministers promised sweeping reforms to The leasehold system.

Last week Rachel Maclean, The lodging minister, reassured MPs during a Commons statement that The assembly met “regularly” and was moving intimately pinch ministers. Information released to The campaigner Martin Keegan nether The Freedom of Information Act nevertheless shows it has not met since past April – thing 1 personnel of The sheet blamed connected successive changes in government.

The Guardian revealed in May that Michael Gove had watered down his committedness to abolish The “feudal” leasehold system, arsenic he was nether unit from Downing Street. Now campaigners pass The deficiency of meetings by The Council is different motion ministers are rowing backmost from The bold betterment schedule they outlined earlier this year.

Harry Scoffin, The laminitis of The anti-leasehold run group Commonhold Now, said: “At a clip erstwhile The Tories’ electoral offering to millennial voters is coming nether immense scrutiny, it is disappointing to study that The government’s flagship location ownership body, The Commonhold Council, hasn’t met in complete a year.

“The Conservative statement urgently needs to revisit its commonhold argumentation programme arsenic portion of its wider lodging package for voters nether The property of 40.”

Martin Boyd, The chair of The Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and 1 of The members of The council, said: “A number of meetings person been cancelled owed to galore changes of lodging ministers, but members of The Commonhold Council proceed to activity pinch officials connected different aspects of The proposals”.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, did not comment.

About 10 cardinal Britons ain their homes done leasehold, a strategy which is almost unsocial in The world and Can time off homeowners facing steep bills for building maintenance, work charges and lease extensions.

Leasehold is peculiarly communal among young people, fixed it is often utilized in blocks of flats. Some Tories spot reforming The strategy arsenic cardinal to winning backmost The under-50s, pinch polls showing statement support astatine conscionable 15% among those voters.

A canvass by The centre-right thinktank Onward this play showed astir two-thirds of millennials believe The Conservatives merit to suffer The adjacent election.

Gove has many times criticised The leasehold system, and told The Sunday Times in January he would denote its abolition by The extremity of The year.

The lodging caput is owed to make a awesome reside in The coming weeks wherever he will outline a package of leasehold reforms to beryllium included in The King’s Speech later this year.

Government sources person told The Guardian those reforms will see capping crushed rents, banning excessive ineligible charges and giving leaseholders much powerfulness complete who manages their buildings. They will not nevertheless see The outright abolition of The system, moreover for caller buildings, aft Number 10 warned it could not beryllium achieved in clip for The adjacent election.

Those adjacent to Gove opportunity The scheme amounts to a “path towards” outright abolition, though Labour has accused The authorities of abandoning its erstwhile commitments.