Leasehold London: How can the Mayor support Londoners?
London has more than double the proportion of leasehold homes than in the rest of England,1 meaning the capital’s residents are particularly affected by increasing service charges.
While there is limited data on leasehold costs at a local level, the Property Institute’s Service Charge Index showed a 41 percent increase in average service charges over the past five years across England and Wales.2
Tomorrow, the London Assembly Housing Committee will ask what extent service charges make ‘affordable’ home ownership tenures funded by the Mayor unaffordable, what more the Mayor can do to help leaseholders, and the extent to which freeholders and managing agents are working to improve transparency in service charges in London.
The guests are:
- Tom Copley, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Residential Development
- Charmaine McQueen-Prince, Chair of the Residential Freehold Association’s Leasehold Reform Subcommittee
- Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), L&Q and Chair, G15
- Andrew Bulmer, CEO, The Property Institute
The meeting will take place on Wednesday 26 February from 2pm, in the Chamber at City Hall, Kamal Chunchie Way, E16 1ZE.
Media and members of the public are invited to attend.
The meeting can also be viewed LIVE or later via webcast or YouTube.
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Notes to editors
- Data from 2022-23 showed that over a third (36.1%) of London’s homes are leasehold. MHCLG, Leasehold dwellings 2022-23, 9 May 2024. Rest of England figures calculated to exclude London. MHCLG figures represent an estimate of the number.
- TPI Service Charge Index 2024 - Service Charges - The Property Institute
- Read the agenda in full.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
- Sem Moema AM, Chair of the Housing Committee, is available for interview.
- Find out more about the work of the Housing Committee.
For more information, please contact Josh Hunt in the Assembly Media Office on 07763 252310 or [email protected]. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer.