‘Service charges levied by freeholders have been escalating to the point where many families in Rainham are now desperately struggling to make ends meet’-Jon Cruddas MP.

The Dagenham and Rainham MP Jon Cruddas has pursued his campaign to halt the rip off being suffered by leaseholders and shared owners of apartments. Service charges levied by freeholders of blocks of flats have been escalating to the point where many families in Dagenham and Rainham are now desperately struggling to make ends meet.

Jon told the Havering Daily: “I have written again to the Government Housing Minister to urge that action be taken to protect leaseholders and shared owners of apartments from a combination of insurance company and building freeholders’ greed. In the Minister’s response to my previous letter he said that announcements would be made by the insurance industry to provide the urgent assistance that leaseholders in affected buildings need.” 

The Dagenham and Rainham MP added: “The Minister assured me that the Government would act on commissions paid.  I was astounded to see that broker commissions and other payments often make up at least 30% of the overall premium paid by leaseholders and in most cases, are shared with property managing agents, landlords and freeholders. 

This is an outrageous rip off of leaseholders and I made clear to the Minister that these commission payments to landlords and freeholders should be banned.”

Margaret Mullane, Labour’s PPC for Dagenham and Rainham commented: “I am receiving so many calls for help from leaseholders of housing association, council and private developers due to massively increasing service charges. Costs that are on top of their mortgage repayments. I fully support Jon’s campaign to get the Government to act and get a grip on this issue to help relieve these hard pressed households.

I am also appalled that the Tory Government has reneged on its pledge to end the tyranny of leasehold. Instead of abolishing the leasehold tenure all they are proposing is to end leasehold of new houses. The vast majority of leasehold homes are apartments, not houses.

If I am elected to become the MP for Dagenham and Rainham I will be pressing for the ban on leaseholds to be applied to new flats and give the right to all existing leaseholders to move to a system of commonhold for their buildings.” 

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