This week, Labour has published its draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill. Too many of my constituents have suffered for years at the hands of exploitative leasehold companies, forced to pay excessive fees whilst urgent maintenance issues go unfixed. This bill will fundamentally reform the leasehold system, protecting leaseholders from unfair charges and banning the selling of leasehold flats in future.
I welcome the Government’s decision to cap ground rent at £250, reducing to a peppercorn charge after 40 years. Local residents have frequently expressed their frustrations with ground rents: unnecessary charges which can shoot up quickly without proper notice or reason. I am glad to see that these fees have been significantly capped, and will later reduce to a negligible sum.
Excessive service charges are also a significant issue for my constituents. I have heard of several cases where residents are living in derelict, sometimes unsafe, conditions, yet face ever increasing service charges with nothing to show for them. The Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill will build on other upcoming changes making service charge bills clearer and easier to understand. Residents will be empowered to challenge unfair costs and ‘mystery’ fees, with landlords and managing agents becoming more accountable.
In addition, forfeiture, an extreme process by which some people can lose their home for owing tiny debts as little as £350, will be scrapped. A new, fairer system will be introduced, and replaced with a new court-led process with strict safeguards for the most extreme cases.
Finally, new leasehold flats will be banned. Instead, new flats will be built as commonhold (meaning all residents jointly own and run the building) ensuring all have a proper say over spending and repairs. This is a measure I have supported for many years, and I am proud to see this Labour Government take such a decisive step. Existing leaseholders will get the right to switch to commonhold too, with the Government streamlining the process to make it much simpler to do so.
As a member of the Labour for Leaseholders campaign group, I will work with my Labour colleagues to closely monitor the progress of this legislation and champion the needs of leaseholders.
Thank you to all of my constituents who have contacted me, and those that have campaigned tirelessly for many years on this issue. It is because of your hard work that this change is happening, and I welcome this important step in ending the feudal leasehold system once and for all.
To find out what these reforms means for you, follow this link: https://mhclgmedia.blog.gov.uk/2026/01/27/own-a-flat-or-looking-to-buy-heres-what-the-new-leasehold-shake-up-means-for-you/
