I’d like to thank the Competition and Markets Authoirty (CMA) who came to Garston and Halewood on Saturday to listen to the experiences of local leaseholders who are being exploited by unscrupulous property management companies. The CMA are currently gathering evidence and information for their investigation into potential breaches of consumer protection law in the leasehold housing market. Having spoken to hundreds of local leaseholders myself I knew they could provide excellent examples for the CMA.

It is clear to me that many residents were given little to no information on what purchasing a leasehold meant when buying their houses, this is especially true for first time buyers who were often told by sales reps that “buying a leasehold is as good as a freehold”. Since the inital purchase the problems with leasehold properties have become clear with exploitation rife accross the North West. It is sad to see so many people being made to pay ever increasing ground rents and service charges and getting nothing in return.

While the CMA’s investigation may take some time to conclude it is great to see concrete action being taken by this independant body. Hopefully their findings will force the Tories to make positive changes for exisiting leaseholders and perhaps even get compensation if consumer law is found to have been breached. I will be closely monitoring the investigation and keeping all local leaseholders updated on the CMA’s progress.