§ 20. Mr. CarringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment what steps he has taken to ensure that council tenants can get repairs carried out quickly.
§ Mr. CurryWe introduced the new right-to-repair scheme on 1 April 1994. That gives tenants the right to have certain urgent repairs done quickly and at no cost to themselves.
§ Mr. CarringtonI am grateful to my hon. Friend for that answer, but will he consider the other problems with council repairs: their cost and their quality? My hon. Friend should look seriously at the need to give council tenants and council leaseholders a vetting power over the cost of council repairs and the standard to which they are done. Council tenants and council leaseholders pay for the repairs.
§ Mr. CurryThe law gives leaseholders protection against unreasonable service charges. Landlords can recover the charges only if they are reasonably incurred and the work is of a reasonable standard. Leaseholders have the right to be consulted, to inspect accounts on which charges are based and to challenge unreasonable charges in the courts. I should be pleased to receive information from my hon. Friend about the specific problems brought to him by his constituents.