Around 10 million people across the UK live in a leasehold property. That means they viewed the house or flat, bought it, may be paying off a mortgage to eventually own it outright.
However, they are actually tenants of whoever owns the freehold. What they have bought is the right to live in the property for a given amount of time. Sometimes that's for the best part of a thousand years - sometimes it's for much less.
In this episode we hear from leaseholders on what some of the issues are, including ground rent and service charges and what can be done about them. We'll also hear from a charity which relies on leasehold revenues.
It's a system that even ministers have described as feudal - behind the scenes, work continues on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill, which is being examined by members of the House of Lords this week. The Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities say; “It is not fair that many leaseholders face unregulated ground rents for no guaranteed service in return."
The Residential Freehold Association told us; “The Government’s own report into leaseholder perspectives highlighted that the vast majority of leaseholders are content with the leasehold system."
To answer your comments and questions, Felicity Hannah is joined by Matt Lewis, a Consultant Solicitor at Commonhold and Leasehold Experts Limited and Martin Boyd, chair of the government funded Leasehold Advisory Service and also chair of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, which supports and campaigns on behalf of leaseholders.
Presenter: Felicity Hannah
Producer: Sarah Rogers/Amber Mehmood
Editor: Beatrice Pickup
This episode was first broadcast on the 24th of April 2024
