Ban service charges on inherited retirement properties while vacant

Background

The Government should ban retirement-housing operators from charging service charges after a leaseholder's death. Estates must not be billed while a flat is empty, in probate, or stuck on the slow resale market common in this sector. We believe this unfair financial burden should end.

Additional details

Many families inherit retirement flats that are hard to sell, facing service charges of £5k-14k a year from the day the leaseholder dies. Estates can be billed for years while flats sit empty, unsold, or restricted from renting. It affects anyone with parents in retirement housing and can wipe out inheritances entirely. When the estate's money runs out, payments come from the family's own finances including pensions to stop arrears growing. If they die, the financial burden lands on their heirs again.

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