Exclusive

New laws to ban leaseholds will help homeowners 'take back control' vows Michael Gove

27 November 2023, 08:20 | Updated: 27 November 2023, 08:44

Natasha Clark

By Natasha Clark

New laws to ban leaseholds for new homes will help homeowners to "take back control", Michael Gove has told LBC.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

The Levelling Up Secretary will bring forward long-promised new rules which will make it easier and cheaper for people to extend their leases or buy the freeholds.

Mr Gove told LBC the new rules will "allows leaseholders to take back control of their properties".

It will mean leases can extended to 990 years, and firms will have to be more transparent about service charges.

Ground rents will also be reduced to just a "peppercorn" - though the exact details have not yet been brought forward.

There are an estimated five million leasehold homes in England - 70 per cent of which are flats.

Campaigners are disappointed that the laws will ban them for new homes - but not for new flats, which Mr Gove had promised.

Mr Gove said: "We can't at a stroke get rid of it, but we are taking a huge step forward, by having a 990 year lease, people will be able to own their flat, in effect.

"Yes, leasehold will still exist, but effectively people will have control over their property at last."

New laws to ban leaseholds will help homeowners 'take back control' vows Michael Gove

The bill, and the details, will come forward to the House of Commons later today.

Mr Gove told LBC: "When people are buying a leasehold flat, they are buying somewhere that is their family home.

"We need to make sure they are not susceptible to either ground rents being jacked up, service charges being forced up, or worst of all, knowing having bought that flat, the value is going to diminish over time as the lease winds down.

"It will enfranchise and liberate leaseholders, and give them control over their property and the money they have invested into their home."

It will also:

  • Make freeholders or managing agents issue bills in a more simple, standard format
  • Make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to take over management of their building and able to appoint the managing agent of their choice
  • Ban leaseholders from having to pay their freeholder's cost when leaseholders exercise their enfranchise rights
  • Making it cheaper for leaseholders to exercise their rights as they will no longer have to pay their freeholder’s costs when making a claim.
  • The Government will also give greater rights to those in mixed-use blocks of flats. Currently leaseholders in these buildings are barred from taking over the management of the site or buying its freehold if more than 25% of its floor space is commercial – such as shops or offices on the ground floor. The Government will now increase the floor space limit to 50 per cent
  • Removing the requirement for a new leaseholder to have owned their house or flat for two years before they can extend their lease or buy their freehold.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
Sadiq Khan has told LBC he won't take any action after a video emerged of a man taking crack cocaine on the Underground.

Sadiq Khan tells LBC he won’t take any action after man filmed smoking crack on the Tube

Emergency ambulances waiting outside the Whittington Hospital in Archway, Islington, London, UK

Patients miss vital prescription medicine while waiting in A&E - with long waiting times making things worse

Outrage as rescued surfer sets up fundraiser for new wetsuit - rather than RNLI

Outrage as rescued surfer sets up fundraiser for new wetsuit - rather than RNLI

Police officer driving van that followed two teens before fatal e-bike crash will not face charges

Police officer driving van that followed two teens before fatal e-bike crash will not face charges

Boris Johnson bitten by ostrich at safari park

Watch as Boris Johnson swears loudly as he is attacked by ostrich

'Con Mum' has been charged with fraud

British 'Con Mum', 84, charged with £115k fraud after being accused of massive scam on son in Netflix doc

Exclusive
James Reed

Redundancies 'a clear and present danger', top recruiter warns, as 'jobs tax' kicks in and tariffs spark market chaos

Markets have been plunged into turmoil by Trump's tariffs

'Economic nuclear winter' ahead if US doesn't axe tariffs, Trump-backing billionaire warns as markets plunge again

Hollywood icon Mickey Rourke and Tory MP Michael Fabricant to join all-star Celebrity Big Brother line-up

Hollywood icon Mickey Rourke and Tory MP Michael Fabricant to join all-star Celebrity Big Brother line-up

Keiron Charles

Two teenage boys charged with murder after 17-year-old boy stabbed to death in west London

John's loveable character Charlie kicked off a whirlwind romance with Rovers Return landlady Bet Gilroy (played by Julie Goodyear)

Coronation Street star's sudden death at 72 - as family pay tribute to 'gentleman' actor

LBC News launches new weekday schedule with new presenter line-up

LBC News launches new weekday schedule with new presenter line-up

Heidi Alexander has said that smoking crack cocaine on the Tube is 'unacceptable'

'Smoking crack cocaine on the Tube is unacceptable', Transport Secretary says as shocking images surface

David Beckham & LA Galaxy Visits Shanghai

David Beckham's former bodyguard Craig Ainsworth found dead in Spain following hunt for war veteran

FTSE 100 dropped again on opening

FTSE plummets 6% after Trump refuses to back down on tariffs, with global markets in turmoil

Exclusive
Google search for UK jobs.

Job postings down nearly a quarter amid fears over Employer National Insurance rise