The leasehold system of property ownership in England and Wales is a feudal relic, a hangover from the middle ages when powerful families wanted to retain ownership of their land while maximising their earnings from it. In recent years it had seen homes created merely to provide an income for whoever owns the freehold. These archaic laws ought to be reformed out of existence. It was heartening that Michael Gove, the cabinet minister with responsibility for housing, agreed. But Downing Street has blocked his proposal, wary of picking a fight with wealthy donors ahead of a general election.
This is a shortsighted move that confirms the Conservatives as being out of touch with ordinary people’s concerns. About a fifth of homes in England are leasehold properties, many of them flats in cities. Under such contracts, homeowners enter into long-term leases in which they must pay a yearly ground rent to freeholders. The scandal is that ground rents and service charges for maintenance can rise quickly to ridiculously high levels. Renters are exploited too, as landlords pass on the costs of such profiteering by increasing rent.
