Author Archives: GovWorldMag

John Healey MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Housing, commenting on Government plans to ban leaseholds on new-build houses, said:

“The Government has known about and ignored the ground rents scandal for a long time, allowing hard-working families to be ripped off under costly leasehold agreements.

“Labour has said for the last year that using leasehold to sell homes is unfair and unjustifiable. And at the Election we said we’d end the routine use of leasehold ownership for all new homes and cap charges on ‘ground rents’ to stop the scam.

“The Government’s pledge is welcome but legislation is needed and this got no mention in last month’s Queen’s Speech. Home-buyers need legislation to ensure the end of this leasehold abuse, cap rip-off rises in ground rent and deal with existing contracts that contain unfair buy-out clauses.

“Nearly half of all newly-built properties were sold leasehold last year, and existing leaseholders need stronger rights too.”

Andy McDonald MP. Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, responding to the publication of Transport Focus latest National Rail Passenger Survey, said:

“With promised upgrades delayed or cancelled and fares rising way ahead of wages, it’s disappointing but not surprising that passenger satisfaction remains low despite small improvements on the previous survey.

“The results also reveal a concerning decline in passengers’ sense of personal security, bringing into question the government’s policy of de-staffing and de-skilling the railway.

“With fewer than half of passengers finding value for money in the price of their ticket, it’s becoming more difficult for the government to justify allowing private and foreign state-owned companies to take money out of the system that should be used to improve services or hold fares down.

“It’s clear than an alternative is needed for Britain’s railways. It is time for our railways to be run under public ownership, in the public interest as an integrated national asset, with affordable fares for all and long-term investment in the railway network.”