Labour to ‘end all leasehold ownership’ if Corbyn makes it into power
Party’s housing team say historic overhaul of home ownership in England is overdue and has promised to radically reduce cost of buying a freehold for leaseholders.
Labour has revealed proposals to end leasehold ownership of both apartments and houses if it were to win the next General Election.
Shadow housing secretary John Healey (pictured, above) and shadow housing minister Sarah Jones (pictured, below) say they want to end all leasehold ownership in England by enabling its 4.3 million leaseholders to buy the full, freehold ownership of their home for just 1% of the property’s value.
If implemented, the proposals would be the most radical change to the way people own property in the UK since leasehold was reformed in 1967, although the current system of long leases has only been around since 1920.
The two MPs claim that for a property in England priced at £250,000 with a 90 year lease, their proposals could mean the cost of buying the freehold would be slashed from over £10,000 to £2,500, a saving of almost £8,000, plus legal fees.
OTHER REFORMS
Labour says it also intends to end ground rents completely for new leasehold homes, cap ground rents at 0.1% of a property’s value and empower leaseholders to hire and fire their block’s managing agent or manage it themselves.
The party also says it would launch a public enquiry into the leasehold mis-selling scandal.
“Leasehold is a symbol of our broken housing system, with millions of England’s homeowners feeling like they’ve bought their home but still don’t own it,” says John Healey.
“England is one of the only places in the world which has failed to move away from this feudal system. Across the world, modern alternatives like commonhold have flourished.”
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