§ Mr. Wheelerasked the Secretary of State for the Environment whether he will take further measures on behalf of private tenants living in mansion blocks.
§ Mr. StanleyThe measures taken in the Housing Act 1980 already provide significant help to tenants of private flats who are liable to pay variable service charges. All such tenants are now entitled to obtain a summary of the costs on which their service charge is calculated and to inspect the accounts on which the summary is based, and a charge may be challenged in court on the grounds that the cost or standard of works or services is unreasonable. In addition, the landlord is required to consult all tenants who have to contribute to the cost of repairs before he carries out any major works and let them see copies of two estimates. In cases where tenants pay for services as part of a fixed fair rent, a landlord is required to provide the rent officer with details of his expenditure on services when applying for a fair rent to be registered.
However, I was glad to see two further initiatives that have been taken very recently by the British Property Federation and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The British Property Federation has recommended to its members that, when they are proposing to sell a residential block of flats, they should notify the tenants individually and give them an opportunity to consider making a formal offer to purchase the landlord's interest on a collective basis in competition with other potential buyers. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is setting up a working party to identify the nature and extent of problems for landlords and tenants in the management of blocks of flats and to make recommendations as to codes of good practice and/or other steps which might be adopted in the interests of both landlords and tenants. I welcome the initiatives taken by each of these bodies.