11mo ago

Leasehold charges to be capped at £250 rather than cut to zero: Report – Mortgage Strategy

www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk Leasehold charges to be capped at £250 rather than cut to zero: Report – Mortgage Strategy

Leaseholders will continue to pay annual ground rent capped at £250 for up to 20 years in an amendment to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill set to be announced this week. Housing secretary Michael Gove has been forced to water down the reforms in the Bill following resistance from the Treasur...

4 comments

Last year Gove called the leasehold system a “feudal system that needs to go”.
However, the Treasury has come under pressure from pension and insurance funds, to argue that this policy should be watered down.
Several funds have invested heavily in ground-rent portfolios and an internal Treasury analysis suggests that up to £37bn of investment could be wiped out, which may lead to compensation claims aimed at the government.
- Why the fuck would investors get compensation? Isn't the entire point of investing that your capital is at risk
  
  Exactly. The whole "privatise the profits, socialise the losses" needs to end.

Honestly this is better than nothing and very welcome for me. Not often I say good things about Michael Gove but he's done a great job on this and the cladding fiasco.
The real thing that cripples me as a leaseholder though is the service charges, which have doubled since I bought the place. The whole thing is a total con.