In a social media post , Mclean stated that the UK Government will restore true home ownership to millions of people. She did not provide further details but posted a link to a piece in the Sunday Times which reports that the UK Government would cap all existing ground rents at a very low rate, known as a "peppercorn" rate, and extend the standard contract lease extension from 90 years to 990 years.
The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) estimates that there are almost 5 million leasehold homes in England, 70% of which are flats. Almost all flats are sold on a leasehold basis compared to 7% of houses.
Shadow Minister for Levelling Up, Housing, Communities and Local Government, Matthew Pennycook, MP, responded to the announcement by stating that if no further measures will form part of the King’s Speech leaseholders will have been failed, adding that Labour would fundamentally and comprehensively reform the leasehold system.
A long-term Propertymark campaign
Propertymark has undertaken lobbying and research into the leasehold market since 2017 when problems with new-build leaseholds first hit the headlines.
In 2018 we published a report titled 'Leasehold: A Life Sentence?' Based on the findings of that report, we helped to drive legislative change that has so far culminated in the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 and a New Homes Ombudsman via the Building Safety Act 2022. Despite these reforms property agents and consumers still experience difficulties with several areas of leasehold law and we continue to shine a light on ongoing issues affecting the buying and selling of leasehold properties.
Leasehold 2023: Has anything changed?
In 2018 Propertymark published a report titled 'Leasehold: A Life Sentence?' Based on the findings of that report, we helped to drive legislative change that has so far culminated in the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. Following this change, we investigated whether anything had changed in the world of leasehold.
Support for property agents
Visit our Leasehold Campaign page for news, research, training and resources designed to support agents involved in buying, selling or managing leasehold properties.
Leasehold properties
We've been working closely with Leasehold Solutions, the National Leasehold Campaign and Leasehold Valuers to raise awareness of the abuse of the leasehold system in newly built homes.