LEASEHOLD PROPERTY OWNERS AND GROUND RENT CHARGES

Motion Text

That this House notes with concern recent incidences of unscrupulous property builders selling leasehold homes to buyers who are then charged extortionate increases to their ground rent charges; notes that this then traps homebuyers in unsellable properties where they are forced to pay large sums to freeholders; further notes that some property buyers have been subjected to a clause that doubles the ground rent charge every ten years, rendering the property worthless and impossible to sell; observes that the owners of freeholds provide no services in exchange for the ground rent that they receive, yet are able effectively to blackmail homeowners for large sums of money; believes that this unfair and damaging practice should not be allowed to continue; agrees with the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who said that these abuses must be stamped out, and urges the Government to take action to change the current situation; notes that other countries, including Scotland, have a commonhold system where ground rent charges are not levied; and further urges the Government to bring in a similar system where new leases have no time limit, ground rent charges are not levied, and residents of flats control their own building and the land it sits on.