Newly announced Leasehold Reform Bill

This bill is very welcome news and a positive step in the right direction, helping leaseholders extend their lease more easily and, if they want to, buy the freehold without being ripped off. But the government's recent backtracking on scrapping leasehold altogether is disappointing. It's a feudal system and long past it's sell-by date.

Long overdue and a welcome relief to leaseholders. Even the mooting of it over the last few years has seen developers move away from the leasehold model for new build houses as buyers go wise. Flats will continue to be on leaseholds though and very few mortgage lenders allow freehold flats in England and Wales anyway. Giving the power to the people who live there instead of a management company who seem to be a law until their selves is surely a good thing.

Whether the announcement of the new Leasehold Reform Bill in the King’s Speech is a net positive or negative depends upon which side of the fence you find yourself. For those looking at buying a new home this could not be better news as the prospect of being trapped in spiralling Ground Rents and Service Charges seems to be consigned to history. For those who already own and are subject to such charges the end is one step closer but without any firm timelines in place nor concrete details around numbers the picture is slightly less clear. For Landlords who have been benefiting from what some have dubbed the ‘Wild West’ of Services Charges the champagne might just have to be put on ice as Landlords are likely to be finding that their tenants either biding their time until we have binding legislation or some are already coming in with lowball offers for lease extensions and enfranchisements. Either way Freeholders are likely to see a significant haircut to their perceived asset value.

The Leasehold Reform Bill promises a massive shift in the UK housing market, desperately needed, aiming to unchain leaseholders from the high costs of lease extensions. We're poised on the brink of change, but lets not count our chickens just yet; the journey from Bill to law is a marathon, not a sprint, with the finish line beyond 2024 still blurred by political promises dating back to 2017

When you have a system as broken as leasehold, surely its time to get rid of a Norman feudal relic and introduce something fit for the 21st century rather than tinker around the edges.

Over the last few years they have slowly tried to help leaseholders with capping ground rents via the mortgage lenders, but it hasn't been enough and finally with the new leasehold reform it is a huge positive step in the right direction. Hopefully, we no longer will see customers' flat prices tumble as the leasehold years go down while being held prisoner to high fees to extend the lease. Long way to go until it is all finalised, but the sentiment and idea is much welcomed.