Leasehold campaigners have criticised the Housing Minister after he refused to commit to a faster timetable on introducing a ground rent cap.
Speaking during a debate on the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, the Labour Government was been warned that its manifesto promise to reform leasehold could be derailed by freeholder-led legal challenges unless it acts with maximum speed to implement its proposed ground rent cap.
Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee, Florence Eshalomi, urged the Government to legislate for the ground rent cap so that it takes effect within two months, “or risk seeing it choked to death by freeholders in the courts.”
But Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook remained cautious, adding: “I agree with that the cap must be introduced as soon as possible, so that leaseholders can benefit from reduced costs and more easily access mortgage financing when looking to move home.
NEED FOR SPEED
“Subject to parliamentary timings, we are seeking to introduce the ground rent cap by 2028 at the latest.
“That is not the end of 2028—it is a point in time in 2028 at the latest—but I want to stress the words ‘at the latest.’
“It is up to this House to ensure that pieces of legislation progress more quickly.”
Unfair leasehold terms such as escalating ground rents have been blamed for stifling property transactions.
LEGAL LIMBO
Linz Darlington, managing director of lease extension specialists, Homehold, says: ”It is now blindingly obvious that the entire leasehold reform agenda is being systematically derailed by litigation on behalf of deep-pocketed freeholders.
“We are already seeing this play out with the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. Despite the High Court firmly dismissing the freeholders’ human rights challenges in October 2025, the Court of Appeal has since granted those same freeholders and other major landlord funds, permission to appeal.”
While this legal warfare drags on, Darlington warns that it is leaseholders who continue to pay the price.
He says: “The core provisions of the 2024 Act, which were passed over two years ago to make it ‘cheaper and easier’ to extend a lease, are still languishing on a shelf. The Government has still not provided a firm date or a concrete promise for when the crucial and much-delayed consultation on valuation rates, which will determine the actual cost of extending a lease, will finally be launched.
“The Government cannot afford to let its reform agenda be dictated by the legal timetables of commercial landlords.”
