Dear Matthew Pennycook,

At the election, leaseholders voted for change and an “end to the feudal leasehold system” – a key Labour Party manifesto commitment.

At the King’s Speech, your insurgent government of delivery promised to act “quickly” in commencing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (‘LAFRA’).

In opposition, you were right to attack the Conservatives for their slow delivery and a 2025/26 timetable for action against leasehold.

That’s why we are calling for you to:

1) Activate LAFRA before Christmas to give leaseholders a vital lifeline.

2) Publish your draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill – promised for this 2024-25 parliamentary session – before Christmas.

3) Release the results of the last government’s ground rent consultation – and outline Labour’s plans to crack down on this money-for-nothing scheme.

Millions of leaseholders up and down the country – many of whom voted for Labour for the first time in their lives in 2024 – are waiting for your response. We do not have the time, money or stamina to wait 4 to 5 years (at a minimum) for the government to liberate us. We have already endured decades of dithering and broken promises.

Our housing experience is a cost of living crisis.

Now is the time for Operation Warp Speed, not more technocratic legalism and delay. What we care about are outcomes, not process. All we want is control of our own homes.

The fate of this agenda is a litmus test of whether the government can restore politics as a force for good.

Please bring us good news before Christmas.