Leasehold Campaign Calls To Abolish Ground Rent

Campaigners are calling for the abolition of ground rent for all leasehold homes in England and Wales.

The campaign launched an online petition in Parliament that pledges a written government response to any protest collecting more than 10,000 signatures.

The current count for the leasehold campaigners is 13,608 signatures, which was reached almost two weeks ago.

Lead campaigner Rikesh Patel says: "Ground rent is an outdated and unfair charge that provides no service or benefit to leaseholders.

"Millions of homeowners continue to pay ground rent, often under clauses that increase every 10 to 25 years, making homes harder to sell, remortgage or mortgage. Although it has been abolished for most new leases, existing leaseholders remain liable, creating an unequal system where similar homeowners are treated differently solely based on when their lease began.

"We believe ending ground rent could remove an unjust financial burden, improve market fairness, and support a fairer, more transparent home ownership system."

The government has published the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, which proposes a £250 cap on ground rent amongst other reforms.

Parliament's open landlord and property petitions

Read on for links to open petitions before Parliament highlighted for landlords, property professionals and renters:

• Abolish Ground Rent for Existing Residential Leasehold Properties 13,608 signatures
• Remove inheritance tax on all estates and their property worth under £1 million 1,876 signatures
• Ban family houses from being converted into Houses of Multiple Occupancy (HMOs) 468 signatures
• Give leaseholders a right to force a buy-back after serious mismanagement 339 signatures
• Commit to not increasing taxes or imposing additional taxes on landlords 305 signatures
• Require Property Management Companies to Publish Management Annual Accounts 168 signatures
• Improve regulation of letting agents including new statutory regulator 163 signatures
• Amend the home buying process in England to align with Scotland 158 signatures
• Cap service charges & require publication of how they are calculated and spent 100 signatures
• Ban Members of Parliament from being residential landlords 84 signatures
• Review rules regarding buyers who pull out of a chain 81 signatures
• Require sellers to complete surveys & probate before marketing their property 65 signatures
• Implement a dynamic Land Value Tax 52 signatures
• Ban credit checks and requiring tenant income to be 30x monthly rent 51 signatures
• Reform tax rules so rental income is taxed on profit, not revenue 66 signatures
• Stop the leasehold debt being passed on to new buyers 50 signatures
• Require landlords to sell vacant properties to house homeless and refugees 43 signatures
• New regulations mandatory landlord checks and invest in more social housing 39 signatures
• Unfreeze LHA and uprate by rent cost increases each year 32 signatures
• Extend Awaab's Law and the Decent Homes Standard to all temporary accommodation 27 signatures
• Make Japanese Knotweed surveys mandatory when selling property 25 signatures
• Legislate to allow landlords to sell properties directly to government 25 signatures
• Amend the Party Wall Act 1996 to give adjoining owners stronger legal protection 21 signatures
• Stop Ltd companies offsetting loan interest or other expenses for rental income 19 signatures

Petitions collecting 10,000 signatures will receive a formal government-written response, while petitions gathering more than 100,000 signatures are considered for debate in Parliament.

Parliament keeps petitions open for six months.