Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for housing and levelling up had promised to look at the possibility of abolishing leasehold properties in the UK.
Currently, some 4.6 million properties exist in Britain. Under the leasehold system, the leaseholder does not outright own the property or the land it is built upon.
They also pay ground rent to the freeholder on an annual basis. The property is leased from the owner for a set time period such as 99 years.
However, as time elapses the property can be more difficult to sell, given then the limited years on the lease.
Gove described the leasehold system as ‘outdated’ and pointed out that the system should be that if someone buys a property, they should own it outright.
It also remains unclear how the leasehold system would be ended as many leasehold properties are part of a larger building sometimes combining residential with commercial spaces.
Attempting to divide up land ownership between former leaseholders would have huge legal ramifications.
Without a viable and workable alternative currently available at the moment leasehold will probably continue for some time.
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