Matthew Pennycook MP

This weekend we come together to honour the service and sacrifice of those who fought and died for our country.

A privilege to take part in Remembrance Day services at Maze Hill, St. John's Blackheath, Charlton Village and Charlton cemetery.

We will remember them.

I see the nonsense “rent controls are back” takes keep coming.

There is no rent control in England.

The legal right to challenge rent increases at tribunal was introduced by the Thatcher Government in its 1988 Housing Act.

It was rarely used in practice only because it inevitably resulted in a landlord serving a Section 21 notice.

Labour’s Renters’ Rights Act abolished Section 21 ‘no fault’ evictions and renters are now rightly empowered to challenge unfair or above-market rent increases.

In both the recent cases that have been the cause of so much debate, the tribunal has been operating exactly as it should – determining that the landlords in question were charging rents that simply did not reflect local market values for comparable properties.

We're dragging the planning system into the twenty-first century by harnessing the power of AI to streamline the planning application process, freeing up planners to make quicker and better decisions and reducing unnecessary delays.

Breathing space for today. Fresh hope for the future. A budget that delivers for first-time buyers and backs council and social housebuilding.

Ignore the misinformation.

We need to fix a small number of specific flaws that the previous government knowingly left in its Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 to ensure that the enfranchisement measures in that piece of legislation can operate as intended.

We have made clear we intend to make those fixes through our forthcoming Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.

Once we have done so and can implement the new valuation process, it will be cheaper and easier for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold.