Reducing the prevalence of private estate management arrangements

For too many homeowners, the experience of living on a newly developed housing estate has been tainted by the hidden and enduring consequences of unadopted infrastructure. Roads, sewers, drains, green spaces, and other amenities that historically would have been maintained by the local authority or utility companies, are instead now routinely left to be managed by private estate management companies, often with little transparency or accountability.

In many cases, the quality of the amenities on such freehold estates is inferior to those adopted by the relevant public authority and falls far short of what people have a right to expect. Residential freeholders across the country frequently report open spaces not fit for purpose, roads left unsurfaced; and drainage systems which are often little more than open ditches. These issues blight people’s lives and with few of the rights to redress found in other markets and no ability to control the management of the estates on which they live, residents feel like they are treated as second-class homeowners. 

This government believes that homeowners living on freehold estates deserve a fair deal. That is why we pledged in our manifesto to act to bring the injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs to an end.

Alongside acting to provide those who currently live on privately managed estates with greater rights and protections so that the fees they pay are fair, transparent, and robustly justified, we are determined to reduce the prevalence of private estate management arrangements, which are the root cause of the problems experienced by many residential freeholders.

Building on the recommendations of the Competition and Markets Authority 2024 Housebuilding Market Study, this consultation aims to better understand the root causes and incentives that have led to the rise of unadopted amenities and what credible options for reform exist. It explores a wide range of issues including: 

• Removing barriers to adoption and improving processes
• Mandatory adoption for certain public amenities 
• Removing perverse incentives driving non-adoption 
• Improving Data and Transparency  
• Assessment of financial sustainability and impact on consumers 
• Prohibiting “Embedded” management company arrangements and Mandating Resident-Controlled management 
• Dispute resolution for amenity quality and adoption processes 

The options for reform we are exploring through this consultation are far-reaching and have implications for housing supply and local authority budgets, so it is vital that future policy decisions are informed by robust evidence and insight. We therefore invite homeowners, local authorities, developers, estate management companies and everyone with a stake in creating fair and sustainable communities to share their views.

Matthew Pennycook MP
Minister of State for Housing and Planning