Consultation outcome

Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market

This was published under the 2016 to 2019 May Conservative government

Applies to England

This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market: government response

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Detail of outcome

The government’s consultation ‘Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market’ looked at a range of measures to tackle unfair and unreasonable abuses of leasehold; in particular the sale of new leasehold houses and onerous ground rents.

The consultation received over 6,000 replies, demonstrating the strength of interest in the issue.

This document provides a summary of responses to the consultation. It also provides the government’s response which includes a range of measures such as introducing legislation to prohibit the development of new build houses; restricting ground rents in newly established leases of houses and flats to a peppercorn (zero financial value); and support for existing leaseholders, such as making buying a freehold or extending a lease easier, faster, fairer and cheaper.


Original consultation

Summary

Seeks views on prohibiting the sale of new build leasehold houses, limiting ground rents and protecting leaseholders from possession orders.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

The government’s Housing White Paper ‘Fixing our broken housing market’ published in February 2017 highlighted the government’s aim to improve consumer choice and fairness in the leasehold sector.

This consultation looks at a range of measures to tackle unfair and unreasonable abuses of leasehold; in particular the sale of new leasehold houses and onerous ground rents.

The consultation also seeks views on excluding leaseholders from possession orders because of arrears of ground rent; and views on freeholders being able to challenge service charges for mixed tenure estates with shared facilities.

Documents

Tackling unfair practices in the leasehold market: consultation paper

Request an accessible format.
If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email alternativeformats@communities.gov.uk. Please tell us what format you need. It will help us if you say what assistive technology you use.

Updates to this page

Published 25 July 2017
Last updated 21 December 2017 + show all updates
  1. Summary of responses and government response added.

  2. First published.

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