Florence Eshalomi

I pay tribute to the Minister for his hard work in getting us to this stage. There were a few occasions when he saw me and went the other way, because he knew what I was going to ask him, but we would not be here without his tireless work. I also highlight what the Minister said about this being a cross-party issue, and pay tribute to the former Member for Worthing West, Sir Peter Bottomley, for his work chairing the all-party parliamentary group on leasehold and commonhold reform. For far too long, many leaseholders up and down the country have been caught up in this medieval system, leaving them with soaring rents and unreasonable fees—people who bought their homes in good faith and have seen a nightmare transpire. It is right that the Government are finally bringing in a change that will help millions of people up and down the country. The Minister has agreed to support the Committee’s inquiry with the necessary evidence. Can he also confirm that he will support us by providing the Government’s response to the 2023 ground rent consultation in the coming days, so that we can get a better understanding on how that underpins the Government’s decision to cap ground rents at £250? There were some things that we were expecting to see in the draft Bill—yes, I have read it—that are not there, including the Law Commission’s unimplemented recommendations on enfranchisement and the right to manage, and Lord Best’s recommendations on managing agents. Lord Best has called for a regulator with teeth for proper enforcement; can the Minister clarify what work the Government are doing to ensure that this will be in the final version of the Bill, or if it will be addressed elsewhere? The Minister also outlined a rough timeline for implementation. Can we get more clarity on when we expect to see that, so that those leaseholders around the country who have been waiting for a long time will finally get the help that they desperately need?