Labour MP tabled lobbyists’ questions
A LABOUR frontbencher who railed against companies “exploiting” homeowners with costly “ground rent” charges went on to ask a series of questions in Parliament on behalf of one of the investment firms behind the scandal, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.
Kate Osamor, the shadow international development secretary, submitted six questions drafted by a lobbying firm coordinating an industry campaign against a crackdown on leasehold costs imposed on flat owners.
The firm, Pagefield, said it was acting for Long Harbour, an investment firm that runs a “ground rent fund”. Pagefield’s representatives approached Ms Osamor, the MP for Edmonton in north London, for a meeting days before she submitted the questions on July 9.
The questions included one asking James Brokenshire, the Housing Secretary, if he had considered the “potential effect on the viability of the leasehold sector” of regulating ground rents or removing the costs altogether, as well as about the “implications” for the building of affordable homes and “the level of house building in each region”. The questions were all answered by a junior minister.
The Telegraph understands that Pagefield is coordinating a campaign on behalf of five firms in the leasehold sector, including Long Harbour. It is running a parallel campaign for the same group of firms against government efforts to force them to replace cladding on their buildings that is simi- lar to that used on Grenfell Tower. Pagefield declares Long Harbour as a client in the lobbying industry register, but declined to say why the other firms were not also listed.
Last year the Government announced plans to ban leasehold arrangements on new-build houses and cut ground rents to zero for all new flats and houses, after it emerged in 2016 that companies were imposing “feudal” practices on homebuyers.
In many cases, buyers purchased homes on 999-year leases before becoming trapped in ground rents, charged by freeholders, that doubled every 10 years. Homeowners said the terms made the homes unsellable.
Ms Osamor’s assistance for the companies came despite an earlier statement she had published on her website about the ground rent scandal. It said: “I believe that we need urgent action to stop the exploitation of hardworking homeowners.”
A spokesman for Ms Osamor said: “Kate believes urgent action is needed to end homeowners, especially firsttime buyers, being ripped off by extortionate ground rent. She met Pagefield to discuss this issue on behalf of her constituents.”
A spokesman for Pagefield said it was “perfectly normal” to be “support- ing Long Harbour” in its communications with industry and political figures in relation to “any public consultation exercise run by government, such as the one on leasehold reform”.
Long Harbour said: “We were pleased to be able to help inform Ms Osamor’s parliamentary questions which sought to better understand the Government’s timetable and approach to reform... There is nothing new in companies... helping parliamentarians as they go about their important business of questioning ministers.”
Asked about the coordinated campaign in relation to cladding, it said that it was attempting to “move forward the current slow progress of implementing the warranties for the apartment blocks we have which are affected by ACM cladding.”
‘Kate believes urgent action is needed to end homeowners being ripped off by extortionate ground rent’