Speeches by Lewin.

“Q Good morning, Dr Garland. We had a sharp fall in turnout at the last general election, and we have already spoken this morning about 8 million people not being registered. I support the principle of automatic voter registration, but I am keen to talk in a little bit more detail about how we would pilot this, because …”

“Sue or Sebastian, any thoughts?”

“Absolutely—that would be noticed. You have then laid down the gauntlet to the Government that you need to do more to support people—blocks—in that early transition. What form would that take? I am interested in the views of the panel on how you see that working practically, because this is really important. We have to …”

“What would you characterise as a greater risk to the economy at the moment: the situation in the middle east or this 40-year transition?”

“I want to pick up on that and then open it to the rest of the panel. It is quite striking that you said you would not change on day one, but would be a lifelong—”

“We spoke earlier about the transition in the context of what it might mean for pension funds and the financial element. I am keen to talk about what the transition might mean for homeowners. Martin, I will come to you first. The Leasehold Advisory Service promotes awareness of the status quo, but I am interested in you…”

“I am Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield.”

“Couldn’t a freeholder do that now? Why is that any different?”

“Robert, I am pleased that you are already lending to commonhold. Charles, I agree with what you said about consumer awareness and education. That has to be an important part of this reform. There is a little bit of a contradiction in some of the quite dramatic language that has been using in written evidence about this…”

“Charles, I am keen to come to you first. UK Finance has said: “Moving to commonhold prematurely risks creating operational disruption across the housing system, undermining the government’s ambition to deliver 1.5 million homes”. That is a bold statement. We have heard testimony over the last few weeks about people who…”

“Thank you. Last question: it seems to me that there is a consensus that this is likely to come first via new build, and the value of doing it through the planning system, potentially. Sebastian, to your comments a second ago, just once more for the panel—particularly because we have heard from so many frustrated leaseh…”

“A full house. I appreciate that it might sound like an odd question, but the point I am trying to make is that, when you are talking about pensions and investments, uncertainty always exists. None of us knew a month ago about the situation that we would be in now. You are all saying that this causes grave uncertainty, …”

“I am really interested in that, but we have had a lot of evidence already and I can say with a degree of certainty that a lot of current leaseholders will not be of the view that freeholders have behaved reasonably. Just because it exists in legislation does not mean it has played out in reality. Are you of the view th…”

“I appreciate that this requires secondary legislation, but let me press an example—I am just interested in your thoughts. Let’s say that you are seven years into your 10-year qualifying period, and there is quite an urgent need for major works. You have a 25% share and the registered provider has a 75% share. How do yo…”

“I have one follow-up. You said the problem was with the model and not the Bill.”

“Shared ownership is a growing tenure. Committee colleagues are bored of hearing me say that that is how I got on the housing ladder before I had grey hair. It is a really important part of the conversation about commonhold, so I want to ask you about how this might work practically. In particular, if we take an example…”

“Good morning. I am Andrew Lewin, MP for Welwyn Hatfield.”

“If you have any evidence of examples of where freeholders have taken the financial hit themselves and not charged the leaseholders in order to provide—”

“Come on, Michael; you are liberated!”

“Thank you both for being here. I am enjoying this outbreak of political consensus—there is the serious point that a lot of people watching this will value seeing two people with huge experience and passion on this issue—but I am going to press you both a little further on the transition period. You have talked with gre…”