LOCAL MP, Michelle Donelan, has been working with Melksham Town and Wiltshire councillors to find a resolution to the issue of soaring rentcharges in the Clackers Brook development of Melksham East.
LOCAL MP, Michelle Donelan, has been working with Melksham Town and Wiltshire councillors to find a resolution to the issue of soaring rentcharges in the Clackers Brook development of Melksham East.
She says that with rentcharges increasing every year and maintenance too often being left neglected, she is working with councillors to ensure GreenSquare Estates do not take residents for granted and services are delivered in a cost-efficient manner and to a good standard.
The MP has also been working with the Minister for Housing, Stuart Andrew MP, to push for freeholders to be given equivalent rights to challenge service charges as leaseholders, and a right to apply to the First-tier Tribunal to appoint a new management company if residents feel that they are being taken for granted.
Michelle Donelan MP said, “Residents have been told by GreenSquare Estates that the charge will be increasing to £156.49 for the year – that’s almost as much as the Band D Melksham Town Council precept! I know from speaking to residents on the doorstep and from walking around the estate that this does not represent good value for money. I have written to the CEO of GreenSuareAccord, making the case that the charge should be frozen, and that GreenSquare Estates have a duty to provide a much better service.”
Eddie Hughes MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Rough Sleeping and Housing) added, “Michelle and I are in complete agreement regarding the need to deliver an equivalence of rights between freeholders and leaseholders in challenging unreasonable estate rentcharges. We as a Government are committed to delivering this reform and Michelle has been a staunch advocate for her constituents in prioritising this matter.”
