… and he is one of Parliament’s ‘slimiest, nastiest MPs’, according to Nadine Dorries
New housing minister Kris Hopkins will not be a full minister of state like his predecessor Mark Prisk, but an undersecretary of state.
That means he is two steps down from his boss, DCLG Secretary Eric Pickles, not one.
The former army officer, media lecturer and former leader of Bradford council (like Pickles) will have fewer responsibilities in terms of policymaking.
It is unlikely that leasehold and its many injustices will figure as a high priority.
It is an open question whether the leasehold round-table discussions will be continued.
The down-grading of housing in the coalition comes at the same time that Jack Dromey, the Labour housing shadow, joined the shadow cabinet.
Unlike chartered surveyor Mark Prisk – who was respected by Labour – Hopkins has no professional experience of housing, although it is listed as an interest.
One person who is not a fan is fellow Tory MP Nadine Dorries who marked his promotion by saying he was one of parliament’s “slimiest, nastiest MPs”.
That may not be as damaging to his reputation as Nadine imagines, however.
Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation / LKP readers should not be too dismayed.
We are now dealing directly with a dozen MPs and Cabinet ministers who are having to confront leasehold issues.
By investigating and explaining abuses in a clear, authoritative manner, LKP / Campaign against retirement leasehold exploitation has ensured that leasehold is far better understood at high level.
The housing incumbent at DCLG – which has always been complacent over this issue – is less important.
He is MP for Keighley and Ilkley .
Lets hope the leaseholders in Retirement Homes in his constituency of Keighley and Ilkley will fully brief him on the many problems of the leasehold system .
I am writing to Kris Hopkins to congratulate him on his appointment as I did with his 2 predecessors.
The first one was a waste of time but Mark Prisk at least offered some hope.
Will Kris already be aware of Leasehold problems. For example will Exit Fees,Management Fees, Price Fixing, Peverel, Fairhold etc mean anything to him.
Wiill the Dept of Comm and Local Gov continue with the work they have started eg.the new Accreditation Scheme, Investigating ways of removing Exit Fees.
Or does it all get scrapped .
His boss Eric Pickles is one of the older generation so should have some knowledge and sympathy with the plight of retired leaseholders
Guardian Newspaper 7th Oct quoted :
The prime minister’s spokesman said of the changes: “This is a reshuffle for talent and merit. It is not about camps and cabals or purges. It is about giving jobs to people who can do the job well.
So can Kris Hopkins do a better job as Housing Minister than former Housing Minister Mark Prisk ?
I cannot see what talent and merit he brings but if he is willing to promote change to the current housing stultified policy of accepting Leasehold title and Commonhold title for residential blocks of flats , then he can make a contribution to improving the current situation.
Developers will always choose to sell the property title which produces the higher profit and that is leasehold title and we can see that no national builder offers Commonhold title. its not a level paying field for the consumer and leasehold system leaves a 99 year or 125 year problem for the consumer..
So buyers of leasehold property are left with a long term rental agreement under which freeholders engage in leasehold abuse and use to extract to extract money for which there was no provision under the lease.