LKP’s LibDem patron Sir Ed Davey was returned to Parliament at the election for the Conservative held seat Kingston and Surbiton. He rejoins Sir Peter Bottomley, Conservative, Worthing West, and Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour, Poplar and Limehouse, after having lost his seat in the 2015 election. LKP warmly welcomes the return to public life of Sir […]
Ex-Labour minister Sally Keeble to keep property managers honest
July 28, 2016 By
– looking forward to working to improve standards for leaseholders & practice in the sector — Sally Keeble (@Sally_Keeble) July 29, 2016 Former New Labour minister Sally Keeble is to be the new ARMA regulator, after former housing minister Rt Hon Keith Hill, also a minister in the Blair governments, quits in November. Sally Keeble […]
Stop the leasehold ‘rip-offs’ by joining our APPG, Fitzpatrick tells MPs
July 23, 2016 By
Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Polar and Limehouse, and a patron of LKP, yesterday urged his colleagues to join the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold. Already 35 MPs and Lords have expressed their support. Mr Fitzpatrick was speaking in the Commons adjournment debate before MPs head off for their summer holidays. He said: “There […]
Law Commission: ‘We want to hear your problems with leasehold law’
July 21, 2016 By
LKP met Professor Nick Hopkins, the Law Commissioner concerned with property law, at Westminster yesterday. The meeting, held by Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick – the MP patrons of LKP – and trustees Martin Boyd and Sebastian O’Kelly – concerned issues surrounding leasehold law as part of the 13th law reform consultation which launched […]
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation welcomes Lord Best’s ‘flaws and all’ study of retirement housing
June 13, 2016 By
The controversial issues surrounding retirement housing have been addressed in an important parliamentary report written by Lord Best, the acknowledged expert on the subject in the Lords. “Leaseholders and their concerns have not been forgotten in this report,” Lord Best told guests at Parliament on Wednesday, who included senior figures in housebuilding, housing associations, the […]
After 30 years, can’t FirstPort contracts go out to tender? And, what’s happened to the chairman of LEASE?
April 29, 2016 By
At the Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP roundtable at Westminster yesterday there were a couple of interesting questions from attendees. One gentleman asked: “I own a portfolio of [50] retirement properties. Most are in sites that were built by McCarthy and Stone and are managed by FirstPort formerly Peverel formerly etc … “In […]
Woodchester Valley Village: How we turned a disaster into the first mutually owned retirement village
April 29, 2016 By
MPs were told yesterday of how residents took control of a bankrupt retirement village, raised £2 million and turned it into the first mutually owned retirement site in the country. Professor Peter Wilson told the Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP roundtable, hosted by the charity’s MP patrons Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley, […]
No more think tank ‘research’ into retirement housing paid for by housebuilders, please
April 29, 2016 By
The Westminster roundtable heard yesterday that think tank ‘research’ paid for by housebuilders or their trade bodies routinely avoided all reference to problems in the retirement housing sector. The event was organised by Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP, and hosted by the charity’s MP patrons Jim Fitzpatrick and Sir Peter Bottomley, and was […]
Bob Bessell hands £7 million of retirement freeholds to the residents
April 29, 2016 By
… and the housebuilder wants an end to ‘feudal’ ground rents, too! Bob Bessell, founder of housebuilder Retirement Security, yesterday pledged to leave his freehold portfolio – worth £7 million – in a trust controlled by the pensioner residents at his sites. The undertaking was made at a Westminster roundtable organised by Campaign against retirement […]
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation Westminster roundtable on retirement housing
April 18, 2016 By
On April 28 there will be a Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation roundtable on retirement housing at Westminster. The purpose is inform MPs of the issues in retirement housing, and to suggest how it could be further improved. There have already been shifts in position by retirement housebuilders: 999 year leases are becoming more widespread, […]
20 MPs sign up to All-Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold and commonhold
March 29, 2016 By
Just before Easter it was decided to form an All-Party Parliamentary Group on residential leasehold and commonhold. It is proposed that the chairmen will be jointly Sir Peter Bottomley and Jim Fitzpatrick, both patrons of LKP, and LKP will provide the secretariat. So far 20 MPs and Lords have signed up to join the group, […]
LKP / Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation suggestions prompt amendments to Housing Bill
March 17, 2016 By
The House of Lords today discussed LKP suggested amendments to the Housing Bill to increase fairness for leaseholders. Proposed by Lord Young of Cookham – better known as the former Conservative MP Sir George Young – the first of his two amendments aimed to “level the playing field—which is currently tilted in favour of freeholders—for […]
