Government to BAN builders selling new-build homes on leasehold terms
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid will also stop firms levying sky-high ground rent on new homes from next year
HOUSE buyers will be protected from leasehold rip-offs under a new crackdown confirmed today.
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid will ban builders from selling new-build houses on leasehold terms.
They will also be blocked from levying sky-high ground rent on new homes from next year.
Mr Javid has previously blasted developers for acting like extortion rackets, fleecing unknowing homebuyers.
Following a consultation, Mr Javid said: “It is clear from the public’s overwhelming response that real action is needed to end these feudal practices.”
Ministers plan to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy out their freehold, and make sure ground rents on new long leases are set at zero.
Leasehold terms are normally reserved for flats where there are shared service charges for maintenance.
But on many housing estates, particularly in the North West, developers have flogged the freehold to overseas investors.
Some families have seen their ground rent soar by as much as 3,000 per cent.
Campaigners say more than 100,000 homes are unsellable due to the unfair contracts.
