5. Member Debate under Standing Order 11.21(iv): Leasehold residential contracts

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:25 pm on 31 January 2018.

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Photo of Jane Hutt Jane Hutt Labour 4:25, 31 January 2018

I'm very glad to support and take part in this debate addressing an issue that has been raised by, and is affecting, my constituents in the Vale of Glamorgan. As part of the regeneration of Barry, 3,500 houses are being built on the waterfont, with substantial levels of support for home buyers, which I welcome, from the Welsh Government's Help to Buy scheme. In fact, Dai Rees has drawn attention to this: new home buyers are getting Help to Buy, but they are for leasehold properties. Of course, the redevelopment of Barry is transformational and has my backing, but concerns have been raised with me about the use of leasehold by the developers who are building these homes. I did raise these concerns with the Minister, who responded to me to say that two of the developers, Taylor Wimpey and Barratt, have confirmed that they no longer sell properties as leasehold unless absolutely necessary. The third developer, Persimmon, has also confirmed that they no longer offer leasehold properties unless absolutely necessary. So, I'll be monitoring this and questioning the 'absolutely necessary' point in terms of scale and type of properties.