• Menu
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
Donate

Leasehold Knowledge Management Logo

Secretariat of the All Party Parliamentary Group on leasehold reform

Mobile Menu

  • Home
  • What is LKP
  • Find everything …
  • Contact
  • Advice
  • News
    • Find everything …
    • About Peverel group
    • APPG
    • ARMA
    • Bellway
    • Benjamin Mire
    • Brixton Hill Court
    • Canary Riverside
    • Charter Quay
    • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
    • Cladding scandal
    • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
    • Commonhold
    • Communities Select Committee
    • Conveyancing Association
    • Countrywide
    • MHCLG
    • E&J Capital Partners
    • Exit fees
    • FirstPort
    • Fleecehold
    • Forfeiture
    • FPRA
    • Gleeson Homes
    • Ground rent scandal
    • Hanover
    • House managers flat
    • House of Lords
    • Housing associations
    • Informal lease extension
    • Insurance
    • IRPM
    • JB Leitch
    • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
    • John Christodoulou
    • Justin Bates
    • Justin Madders MP
    • Law Commission
    • LEASE
    • Liam Spender
    • Local authority leasehold
    • London Assembly
    • Louie Burns
    • Martin Paine
    • McCarthy and Stone
    • Moskovitz / Gurvits
    • Mulberry Mews
    • National Leasehold Campaign
    • Oakland Court
    • Park Homes
    • Parliament
    • Persimmon
    • Peverel
    • Philip Rainey QC
    • Plantation Wharf
    • Press
    • Property tribunal
    • Prostitutes
    • Quadrangle House
    • Redrow
    • Retirement
    • Richard Davidoff
    • RICS
    • Right To Manage Federation
    • Roger Southam
    • Rooftop development
    • RTM
    • Sean Powell
    • SFO
    • Shared ownership
    • Sinclair Gardens Investments
    • Sir Ed Davey
    • Sir Peter Bottomley
    • St George’s Wharf
    • Subletting
    • Taylor Wimpey
    • Tchenguiz
    • Warwick Estates
    • West India Quay
    • William Waldorf Astor
    • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
  • [Custom]
Menu
  • Advice
  • News
      • Find everything …
      • About Peverel group
      • APPG
      • ARMA
      • Bellway
      • Benjamin Mire
      • Brixton Hill Court
      • Canary Riverside
      • Charter Quay
      • Chelsea Bridge Wharf
      • Cladding scandal
      • Competition and Markets Authority / OFT
      • Commonhold
      • Communities Select Committee
      • Conveyancing Association
      • Countrywide
      • MHCLG
      • E&J Capital Partners
      • Exit fees
      • FirstPort
      • Fleecehold
      • Forfeiture
      • FPRA
      • Gleeson Homes
      • Ground rent scandal
      • Hanover
      • House managers flat
      • House of Lords
      • Housing associations
      • Informal lease extension
      • Insurance
      • IRPM
      • JB Leitch
      • Jim Fitzpatrick MP
      • John Christodoulou
      • Justin Bates
      • Justin Madders MP
      • Law Commission
      • LEASE
      • Liam Spender
      • Local authority leasehold
      • London Assembly
      • Louie Burns
      • Martin Paine
      • McCarthy and Stone
      • Moskovitz / Gurvits
      • Mulberry Mews
      • National Leasehold Campaign
      • Oakland Court
      • Park Homes
      • Parliament
      • Persimmon
      • Peverel
      • Philip Rainey QC
      • Plantation Wharf
      • Press
      • Property tribunal
      • Prostitutes
      • Quadrangle House
      • Redrow
      • Retirement
      • Richard Davidoff
      • RICS
      • Right To Manage Federation
      • Roger Southam
      • Rooftop development
      • RTM
      • Sean Powell
      • SFO
      • Shared ownership
      • Sinclair Gardens Investments
      • Sir Ed Davey
      • Sir Peter Bottomley
      • St George’s Wharf
      • Subletting
      • Taylor Wimpey
      • Tchenguiz
      • Warwick Estates
      • West India Quay
      • William Waldorf Astor
      • Windrush Court
  • Parliament
  • Accreditation
You are here: Home / Latest News / Is government really back-tracking on leasehold reform evidenced in Queen’s speech? LKP’s verdict is open …

Is government really back-tracking on leasehold reform evidenced in Queen’s speech? LKP’s verdict is open …

December 19, 2019 //  by Sebastian O'Kelly

Boris Johnson leasehold
Is Boris Johnson going to pander to the deeply unappetising housebuilding industry and offshore speculators in residential freeholds? Or do something for voters who are often making their first step to property ownership by buying a leasehold tenancy?

By Sebastian O’Kelly

The Opposition and some media have been quick to see the government back-tracking on leasehold reform owing to the Queen’s speech today, but LKP thinks this reaction is a little hasty.

It could also be just muddle, there being no decent policy advisor looking at leasehold ever since Sajid Javid’s team was scattered when he was promoted from Communities Secretary to become Home Secretary.

The Queen’s speech – December 2019 background briefing notes are still encouraging:

● The Government is taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. This includes working with the Law Commission to make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, quicker and more cost effective – and to reinvigorate commonhold and Right to Manage.

● The Government will ensure that if a new home can be sold as freehold, then it will be. We will get rid of unnecessary ground rents on new leases and give new rights to homeowners to challenge unfair charges. The Government will also close legal loopholes to prevent unfair evictions and make it faster and cheaper to sell a leasehold home.

● For those in the social rented sector, we will bring forward a Social Housing White Paper which will set out further measures to empower tenants and support the continued supply of social homes. This will include measures to provide greater redress, better regulation and improve the quality of social housing.

LKP is distinctly queasy about the term “necessary ground rents” as we have argued repeatedly that no ground rents are necessary: they are a speculative income stream in the homes of ordinary families, often owned by murky offshore investors, and are for no service whatsoever.

We were delighted when Sajid Javid committed to zero ground rents in future builds and – after a few months of wobble – this was re-confirmed by his successor James Brokenshire.

The latest Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick immediately confirmed on Twitter that the policy will be ZERO ground rents in future:

Robert Jenrick leasehold reform

His Labour shadow John Healey, who has spent months fine-tuning excellent policies on leasehold reform, said:

“This looks like the Conservatives backtracking in the face of opposition from vested interests in the property market.

“The truth is a Conservative government can’t help leaseholders because they won’t stand up to those who are profiting out of the leasehold scandal.”

LKP is not persuaded of this. It would be an insanity for the Conservatives now, with their huge majority, to fail to get to grips with leasehold – a hugely expanded form of tenure, and therefore problem, in recent years.

The Independent was also critical. Well, at the pace things are going, we should not have long to find out …

Boris Johnson waters down plans to help homebuyers by ending sales as leaseholds

Boris Johnson’s government has watered down commitments to end the sale of new homes as leaseholds and combat exploitative arrangements for homeowners. It comes as the new majority Conservative government unveiled dozens of bills in the Queen’s Speech on Wednesday, as Boris Johnson set out his domestic agenda beyond Brexit for the coming year.


Here is the government press release

Queen’s Speech: Delivering fairer, more affordable homes for buyers and renters

Better deal for renters with new lifetime deposit – making the process of moving home easier and cheaper for millions Confirmation of plans to abolish ‘no-fault’ evictions – preventing landlords from evicting tenants at short notice and without good reason Government also announces plans to slash the cost of new

Two mentions of zero ground rents:

“The Queen’s Speech has also set out further detail for new legislation to bring an end to the unscrupulous practice of unnecessary leaseholds – introducing new laws to ban new houses being sold on a leasehold basis and reducing ground rents for new leases to zero.”

“We are moving forward with legislation to set ground rents to zero, abolish leasehold houses and prioritise the safety of residents with the biggest change to building safety laws for 40 years.”

Related posts:

Daily Telegraph reports the new-build leasehold houses ban Don’t forget about 10 million voters, Bottomley tells the government … which omitted leasehold reform from the Queen’s speech An open letter to Robert Jenrick: the costs of delayed leasehold reform Labour to cap ‘legalised extortion’ of ground rents and end leasehold houses … Opposition and government now compete to reform leasehold Queen’s speech silent on meaningful leasehold and commonhold reform

Category: Latest News, NewsTag: Boris Johnson, John Healey MP, Robert Jenrick, Sajid Javid

Sign up to the LKP newsletter

Fill in the link here

Latest Tweets

Tweets by @LKPleasehold

Mentions

Anthony Essien (34) APPG (44) ARMA (91) Benjamin Mire (32) Cladding scandal (71) Clive Betts MP (33) CMA (46) Commonhold (56) Competition and Markets Authority (42) Countryside Properties plc (33) FirstPort (55) Grenfell cladding (56) Ground rents (55) Israel Moskovitz (32) James Brokenshire MP (31) Jim Fitzpatrick (36) Jim Fitzpatrick MP (31) Justin Bates (41) Justin Madders MP (75) Katie Kendrick (41) Law Commission (61) LEASE (68) Leasehold Advisory Service (65) Leasehold houses (32) Liam Spender (39) Long Harbour (51) Lord Greenhalgh (32) Martin Boyd (87) McCarthy and Stone (43) National Leasehold Campaign (42) Persimmon (49) Peverel (61) Property tribunal (49) Retirement (38) Robert Jenrick (33) Roger Southam (47) Sajid Javid (38) Sebastian O’Kelly (67) Sir Peter Bottomley (211) Taylor Wimpey (106) Tchenguiz (33) The Guardian (33) The Times (34) Vincent Tchenguiz (45) Waking watch contracts (40)
Previous Post: « Does Dominic Cumming’s gung-ho planning idea put a hole in Law Commission’s enfranchisement reforms by boosting freehold values?
Next Post: Our Father, who art in … Parliament Peter Bottomley Sky Father of House»

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Stephen

    December 20, 2019 at 3:17 am

    The statement states

    “make buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, quicker and more cost effective”

    I take it that “cost effective” does not mean the principals of valuation will change but rather the professional fees of the landlord the lessee currently has to pay will be capped or made the entire responsibility of the freeholder

    I have stated that where the landlord has acquired his interest post 1993 that it cannot come as a surprise when an enfranchisement claim / lease extension claim is served and as that possibility was factored into the price the landlord should in those case bear their own costs – saving the lessee £2000 to £3000 in costs

    Setting prescribed rates to be used in the current formula and having an online calculator would also save costs all round to the benefit of the lessee

    The valuation formula and principals have been the subject of some 25 years of case law and with the published data an valuation calculator should be capable of being compiled

    The government has a Very narrow bridge to walk between keeping its promise to lessees to make it cost effective for the lessee and yet at the same time ensuring adequate compensation is paid to the landlord

    It seems only addressing the legal and valuation costs can enable the government to walk that bridge

  2. Michael Epstein

    December 20, 2019 at 9:42 am

    This very narrow bridge for fair compensation? Is there room on it for Landlord’s to disclose how much they paid for the freehold? If a Landlord paid £3,000 for a freehold 5 years ago would fair compensation be based on the £3,000 they paid or the £15,000 they upped their valuations to?

  3. Alec

    December 21, 2019 at 7:38 am

    Let us be very clear: notwithstanding “loopholes” (offshore or otherwise), the procurement of freeholds in breach of section 4 of part 1 of the LTA 1987 (as amended by the Housing Act 1996) is a criminal offence.

    And whilst breach of existing qualifying leaseholders right of first refusal (RFR) may be regarded by some as redundant and ready to be replaced with “easier and cheaper” measures being proposed by the Law Commission, the fact remains that many existing qualifying leaseholders have already had their leaseholds literally stolen from under their feet.

    The Law Commission must address this issue alongside recommendations for the future, as failure to do so may be interpreted as rewarding criminality.

  4. Simon

    December 21, 2019 at 9:45 pm

    The freeholder deserves a maximum of 1% of property value or 10X ground rent whichever is lower, to a maximum of £5000. They have been more than adequately compensated from ground rents and permission fees in the meantime. Then leasehold can properly start to die off and rest in peace in England and Wales.

  5. Michael Epstein

    December 22, 2019 at 8:52 am

    Simon, perhaps 1% of land value would be more appropriate as the land is the freehold?

Above Footer

Advising leaseholders. Avoiding disasters.
Stopping forfeiture. Exposing abuses. Urging reform.

We depend on individuals for the majority of our funding.

Support Us and Donate

LKP Managing Agents

Become an LKP Managing Agent

Common Ground
Adam Church
Blocnet property management2

Stay in Touch

To achieve victory in the leasehold game where you are playing against professionals and with rules that they know all too well - stay informed with the LKP newsletter.
Sign Up for Newsletter

Professional Directory

The following advertisements are from firms that seek business from leaseholders.
Click on the logos for company profiles.

Barry Passmore

Footer

About LKP

  • What is LKP
  • Privacy and data

Categories

  • News
  • Cladding scandal
  • Commonhold
  • Law Commission
  • Fleecehold
  • Parliament
  • Press
  • APPG

Contact

Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
Open Data Institute
5th Floor
Kings Place
London N1 9AG

sok@leaseholdknowledge.com

Copyright © 2025 Leasehold Knowledge Partnership | All rights reserved
Leasehold Knowledge Partnership Limited (company number: 08999652) is a company limited by guarantee that is a registered charity (number: 1162584) with the Charities Commission.
LKP website is hosted at www.34sp.com
Website by Callia Web