Campaigner's OBE honour

Councillor has spent years fighting to end leasehold

- BY GARY PORTER

THE Ellesmere Port co-founder of the National Leasehold Campaign was left “shaking” when she discovered she was being made an OBE in the King’s Birthday Honours.

Campaigner Katie Kendrick has been recognised for her services to housing and leaseholders.

The 45-year-old, from Netherpool, co-founded the campaign group in 2017 and it is now the largest grass-roots organisation fighting to end the controversial leasehold system.

Earlier this year, the Government announced that homeowners will have a stake in the ownership of their buildings from day one and not have to pay ground rent under major reforms.

Katie, who became a Cheshire West and Cheshire Labour councillor two years ago, has been honoured along with her co-founders Cath Williams and Jo Darbyshire, also both based in the North West.

It's been a proud few weeks for Katie after she was also recently made the town’s mayor.

She said: “When the letter arrived in the post I honestly couldn’t believe what I was reading.

“1 was shaking. Never in a million years did I think something like this would ever happen to me.