Speeches by Woodcock.

“Is the intention that it will be within this Parliament?”

“Minister, on 27 January the Government launched a consultation on banning leasehold for new flats, which is obviously looking at the scope and the timings; it closes on 24 April. Without prejudicing the outcome, based on what you have heard from the industry over the last couple of weeks as well as your personal though…”

“I am Sean Woodcock, the MP for Banbury.”

“I am not aware of any. I have not been given information suggesting that.”

“We have a clear preference for the Tuesday because it is at the beginning of that week, which, as I stated, is MS Awareness Week. It is most important that it is in that week, but having it at the beginning of the week, rather than when everyone has disappeared off home to their constituencies, would be beneficial in g…”

“Thank you very much for having me. As you have noticed, I am not Oliver Ryan, but tackling multiple sclerosis and the issue of treatment for people with it are quite personal for me. My wife has multiple sclerosis, so the issue is something that I am quite passionate about, hence my presence as an officer of the APPG f…”

“That is why the timeline question is so important.”

“This was referring to the previous Act—the 2002 Act. The fact that there was no sunset clause had an impact on take-up.”

“We heard evidence on 10 March from Philip Rainey KC, who said that, unless there is a sunset clause, it is unlikely that you will get a high degree of take-up of commonhold. So my query is whether it will be pushed back and back, and the intention of the Bill will not be matched by the outcome.”

“You have touched on supply. Is there a view that it could impact on the 1.5 million homes target and the supply?”

“No, sure.”

“But there is the potential that the ban on new leasehold flats may not be in operation before the next Parliament.”

“Mr Roe, you previously called for more detail on the conversion process to understand the potential risk for lenders. I am taking from your comments today—feel free to correct me—that, having had that detail, you do not believe that you have the assurance needed by lenders.”

“Can I make one final point? Ms Gurga, you said that it is an unprecedented intervention, but this is what I would suggest is also unprecedented. There has been a 40-year timeline for this to come to an end, and it has been in the manifesto of two successive election-winning parties, in 2019 and 2024, so these investors…”

“To come back on what you just said, Ms Gurga, Mr Roe and Mr Godfrey in particular, Lord Gove told this Committee a couple of weeks ago that significantly less than 1% of investments would be involved in ground rent. That doesn’t sound like it is going to bring down the western economy to me. Can you suggest why he is w…”

“Mr Dunleavy, you will have seen how the votes are distributed according to the Bill. Do you think that that strikes the right balance?”

“Other countries have phased out leaseholds—the US, the EU, Canada, New Zealand, take your pick. There is no sense that people there are not getting into the housing market. In some ways you might even argue that their housing markets are in a better condition. What do you have to say to that?”

“Prior to coming to this place, I spent 15 years working in housing associations, including in property management of schemes like this, blocks of flats and so on, with management companies. Registered providers are normally already pretty heavily involved in their governance arrangements. Can you set out why or whether…”

“I am Sean Woodcock, Member of Parliament for Banbury.”

“For residents of north Oxfordshire, simple tasks such as driving to work or doing the weekly shop have become a daily slalom, swerving left and right to avoid potholes. We need to be very clear: that is a direct result of 14 years of largely Conservative Government neglect. Between 2010 and 2024, Oxfordshire saw its re…”