England And Wales Must Sell New Houses As Freehold

All new houses in England and Wales will have to be sold as freehold properties under ministers’ revived plans to phase out the ‘feudal leasehold system’.

Next month’s King’s Speech, when the Government will set out its fresh legislative agenda, will include proposals to ‘restore true home ownership’ to buyers.

Promised new laws will ensure that all new houses constructed must be marketed as freehold, although new flats can be leasehold.

Ministers also intend to cap all ground rents on existing leasehold properties to a ‘peppercorn’ rate, as well as modify the standard contract lease extension from 90 years to 990 years.

They also want to remove the requirement for someone to have lived in a property for two years before they can negotiate an extension.

However, Labour slammed the plans as ‘thin gruel’ and emphasised how the Tories pledged four years ago to axe leaseholds for new houses.

In January this year, Michael Gove committed to abolishing the ‘outdated, feudal’ leasehold system by the next general election.

His plans were subsequently dropped amid reports of a conflict between his department and Downing Street.

However, according to a newspaper outlet, Michael Gove has now reached a compromise with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak over a fresh package of reforms.

Housing minister Rachel Maclean confirmed there would be a new bill in the King’s Speech on 7 November.

She posted on X, formerly known as Twitter that plans to phase out leasehold and restore true home ownership confirmed as part of the King’s Speech.

She said that they would restore true home ownership to millions of people and end the reign of rip-off freeholder + incompetent profiteering management companies.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has estimated there are about five million leasehold homes in England, of which 70 per cent are flats and 30 per cent are houses.

The majority of flats in the private sector are leasehold. An estimated 94 per cent of owner-occupied flats and 71 per cent of privately rented flats, while around 8 per cent of houses in England are leasehold.

The proportion of newly built houses sold as leasehold rose from 7 per cent in 1995 to a peak of 15 per cent in 2016.

The proportion has subsequently fallen and was less than 1 per cent in December last year.

Leaseholders own the right to occupy their home but the building or land is owned by the freeholder or landlord.

The Tories announced four years ago that they would axe leasehold for all new houses, which means that leaseholders have been failed by the Government.

Not only that, social care is a travesty. Now every family has to sell their home so that they can pay for sheltered housing or a care home. I mean, what do we really work for? We don’t get anything for it when we need it the most. No wonder the younger generation doesn’t want to work, they know what’s coming when they retire – absolutely nothing!

All the Tories really want is to keep the poor in the gutter while the wealthy feast off them.

This Government, or any Government thereafter need to do more for the people and these management companies have been making a killing for far too long. However, watch this space, it won’t happen immediately, but slowly but surely our freedom to buy our own home will not exist at all! They want to take everything.