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17/12/25 3:30 pm
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A leasehold lawyer has urged the government to go further in its reforms after the Housing Minister raised "significant concerns" about one of Britain’s biggest property managers.
Matthew Pennycook met FirstPort after dozens of residents complained of high charges, slow repairs and aggressive debt collection techniques, The Guardian reports. The firm manages properties on behalf of one million people, and other leasehold management companies.
Pennycook (pictured left) has previously called the unregulated leasehold market a “wild west” of operators and plans to publish a draft leasehold reform bill in the coming weeks that would all but end the leasehold system.
Jo Ironside, partner at law firm Mayo Wynne Baxter, (main picture) believes the bill must go beyond abolishing leasehold and that it needs practical measures with clear performance standards.
“While the minister’s comments sound strong, leaseholders have heard similar promises for years,” says Ironside. “Announcing a draft bill is not the same as delivering meaningful change.”
She advises those facing high charges or slow repairs to act now, keep detailed records, challenge unreasonable costs through the first-tier tribunal and escalate complaints to the Property Ombudsman.
“Ownership reform alone won’t fix the stress points,” she adds. “We need practical measures like statutory rights for leaseholders to remove underperforming managing agents quickly and easily, mandatory service level agreements with clear performance standards and penalties for failure and full transparency on service charges and procurement, so residents know what they’re paying for and why.
“Until these changes happen, leaseholders will continue to feel powerless, regardless of political soundbites.”
Matthew Pennycook met FirstPort MD Martin King but remained unconvinced by some of the company’s responses, according to The Guardian. A company spokesperson says: “We discussed the positive changes we have implemented over the last 12 months as well as how we are contributing to the broader reform of the sector. There remains more to do as we continue our work to drive improvement across the industry.”
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