Estate Management Charges

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:10 pm on 25 September 2018.

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Photo of Carwyn Jones Carwyn Jones Labour 2:10, 25 September 2018

I can assure the Member that this is part of what the task and finish group will be considering. He makes the point, quite rightly, that where new estates of houses are built, people are, these days, often told there is a service charge to pay for grass cutting, a service charge to pay for upkeep, to pay for the roads and pay for the pavements, but they're still paying council tax at the same level, of course. So, they're paying twice for a service that should be provided by a local authority. I would hope that no local authority in Wales sees estate management charges as a way of granting planning permission without the ongoing revenue cost that an estate of houses would cost them. I hope that isn't the case. But, certainly, I can give him that assurance that this will be something that the task and finish group will look at.