Speeches by Woodcock.

“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…”

“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…”

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

“I am grateful to the Minister for outlining the steps the Government are taking to make up for the years of underfunding of council highways by the Opposition parties. The Liberal Democrat spokesperson tried to defend Oxfordshire county council; will the Minister address what that council has done? I get complaints fro…”

“Will the Minister give way?”

“What I am trying to understand is that it seems like we are getting to a situation where, as long as the leaseholders pay the bill for sorting this out, you guys are fairly happy. But if the shoe is on the other foot, frankly, you are not interested and you will continue to say that whatever is proposed is not good eno…”

“To return to a point made last week, I think it was Lord Best who was very keen on the regulation of managing agents as well. But we heard very clearly from representatives of leaseholders that their concern with regulation is that all the costs will be loaded on to them. That is why they don’t want regulation—they wan…”

“I am grateful to the Minister for his statement. With over 5,000 properties off the grid in the Banbury constituency, I welcome this announcement. Can I add my voice to the others we have heard from around the Chamber in asking that this Government to do what the previous Government failed to do: finally tackle the lac…”

“Lord Best, last week we heard from campaigners that they did not want regulation of managing agents. They were concerned that that would just pass the costs on to them. Do you have any comment on that? That seems to me a fairly important piece of testimony.”

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

“He’s an ex-pollster, so I wouldn’t argue with him.”