Government responds to CMA study

Brandon Lewis, Minister of State for Housing and Planning said: “I agree that improvements can continue to be made in the provision of property management services and we will be taking forward the vast majority of [the CMA] recommendations.”

Managing agents’ trade body, ARMA, welcomed the Mr Lewis’s response to the study. Chief Executive, Michelle Banks said: “We have argued for some time that action is needed to improve information for people who want to buy leasehold properties, and agree with the Minister that this is a priority together with making existing leaseholders fully aware of the rights and protections that they already have.”

The study identified a number of areas of concern, including service charges and standards, unexpected costs, poor communication and transparency between property managers and leaseholders, and difficulties in getting redress.