Boris Johnson allies pile pressure on Michael Gove over his 'failed' promise to ... trends now
Boris Johnson's allies have piled pressure on Michael Gove over a failed promise to scrap the 'feudal' leasehold system in England.
The Housing, Levelling Up, and Communities Secretary came under attack from ex-advisers to the former PM in the House of Lords.
During peers' first debate on the Government's Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, Mr Gove was warned the legislation does not meet a Tory manifesto pledge.
He also faced demands to deal with so-called 'fleecehold' arrangements, which were described as the 'next great scandal approaching the housing market'.
Labour joined the attacks on Mr Gove and branded his proposed reforms an 'eviscerated shell of a Bill'.
Boris Johnson 's allies have piled pressure on Michael Gove over a failed promise to scrap the 'feudal' leasehold system in England
Leaseholds are a form of home ownership that gives the householders the right to live in a property for a fixed number of years
Baroness Finn, former chief of staff to Mr Johnson in Downing Street, urged the Government to stick to its manifesto commitment of banning all leasehold homes
Leaseholds are a form of home ownership that gives the householders the right to live in a property for a fixed number of years.
But it can mean residents having to pay service charges to the freeholder, who owns the land.
Mr Gove last year committed to abolishing the 'outdated, feudal' leasehold system by the next general election.
This followed a 2019 Tory manifesto commitment to implement a 'ban on the sale of new leasehold homes'.
Amid reports of a battle between Mr Gove's department and Rishi Sunak's Downing Street team, the Government has since been accused of watering down reforms.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill bans the sale of new leasehold houses - except in exceptional circumstances - but does not ban the sale of new leasehold flats, which make up 70 per cent of properties affected.
Baroness Finn, former chief of staff to Mr Johnson in Downing Street, last night urged the Government to stick to its manifesto commitment of banning all leasehold homes.
'Boris Johnson secured a substantial majority just five years ago on a manifesto that included the promise to implement a ban on the sale of new leasehold homes,' she told fellow peers in the Lords.
'The Government has sought to suggest that banning leasehold houses fulfils this promise. It does not, for the majority of leaseholders are in flats.'
Baroness Finn, an ex-girlfriend of Mr Gove,
