An MHK has voiced fears that changes to legislation on freehold rules may end up with a government department making a mess of things.

The Property Service Charges (Amendment) Bill was granted a second reading by the House of Keys last week. The government says its aim is to give the owners of freehold homes who have to pay a service charge the right to refer such a charge to the rent and rating appeal commissioners.

But Lawrie Hooper (LibVannin, Ramsey) argued that it did not actually do that specifically.

He said the bill gives the Department of Infrastructure the power to extend current legislation to another group, which he described as a ’sort of middle step’.

’There is a lot of risk, I think, with handing a department this power when it is something that is quite straightforward,’ he warned.

’What are the chances the department makes a mistake in its secondary legislation and specifies the wrong people or specifies not a broad enough class of properties?’

Infrastructure Minister Ray Harmer said any order allowing a new group the right to go to the rent and rating appeal commissioners would still require Tynwald approval.

’There is a range of different types of circumstances, so we need to have that flexibility within the Tynwald order,’ Mr Harmer said.

MHKS voted in favour of granting the bill a second reading - when the principle of the legislation is approved - by 15 votes to five. In addition to Mr Hooper, the other four who voted against were Kate Beecroft (LibVannin, Douglas South), Daphne Caine (Garff), Rob Callister (Onchan) and Chris Robertshaw (Douglas East).

The bill will undergo detailed scrutiny at the clauses stage in the autumn.