UK MPs urge faster implementation of £250 ground rent cap for leaseholders

A UK parliamentary committee has called on the government to accelerate the introduction of a £250 cap on leasehold ground rents. MPs argue that leaseholders have been left waiting too long for meaningful reform. The issue has been a source of frustration for homeowners across England and Wales.

A committee of Members of Parliament in the United Kingdom has urged the government to speed up the implementation of a £250 cap on ground rents paid by leasehold property owners, warning that delays have left hundreds of thousands of homeowners in an increasingly difficult position.

The parliamentary committee stated that leaseholders — people who own a property for a fixed term but not the land it sits on — have been waiting for successive governments to address the issue for years. Ground rents, which are annual charges paid to a freeholder, have in some cases doubled every decade under historic lease agreements, leaving residents facing rapidly escalating costs.

Reform of the leasehold system has long been promised by UK governments but has moved slowly through the legislative process. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 already banned ground rents for new residential leases in England and Wales, but existing leaseholders have yet to receive similar protections, which is the core concern raised by the committee.

MPs on the committee emphasised that the financial pressure on existing leaseholders continues to mount with each passing year of inaction, and that the government must set a clear and firm timetable for extending the cap to cover current lease agreements, not just newly signed ones.

The call adds pressure on the UK government to prioritise housing reform at a time when affordability and property costs remain central concerns for millions of households across England and Wales.