Housing Bill: Amendments of Leasehold Reform Act 1967 etc.

Mr. Edward Rowlands (Merthyr Tydfil): “We have had some cranky and curious ground landlords in South Wales, but the saddest aspect is that the most rapacious ground landlord, Western Ground Rents, has been bought by the BP pension fund, which is behaving in the same rapacious and, at times, unfeeling and uncaring way in handling the genuine requests of householders. Such ground landlords are prompting the growing demand for further amendments to the 1967 Act. I should like to think that if the many pensioners in the BP fund realised that it was using its power to drive harsh bargains with householders and to act tough and without feeling or care, they would not want such actions to be taken in their name. It is regrettable that a distinguished company, which is half owned by the Government, should behave in that way.”

Later in the debate he described the leasehold system as “a relic of feudalism … now becoming a form of corporatism. … An example is the BP pension fund.”