Why replacing leasehold may be easier said than done

Why replacing leasehold may be easier said than donePublished1 minute agoByTarah WelshHousing reporterWhen Sally, 74, bought her two-bedroom flat in 2021, she hoped it would be the home she could peacefully retire in.But she says buying a leasehold home has led to terrible stress.There are around five million leaseholders in England and Wales. Sally is one of over 1,000 people the BBC spoke to in an attempt to understand the pressures on leaseholders. Most said that fast rising service changes and ground rent costs make them feel they have little control over their own homes.When she moved into her London flat, Sally says service charges were around £2,600 a year. One year, they totalled more than £5,400."That was a really bad year. Me and my fellow owners were very stressed and anxious. There were tears and I remember us talking about how we were going to pay."Now, the government wants to fundamentally change how flats are owned.Under its Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, new leasehold flats will be banned and replaced with commonhold, a system where residents collectively own and manage their buildings."The people who should own buildings, and who should exercise control over their management, shared facilities and related costs are not third-party landlords but the people who live in flats within them and who have a direct stake in their upkeep," said Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook, in a speech in April. Image source, Anadolu via Getty ImagesImage caption, Matthew Pennycook: "The people who should own buildings, and who should exercise control over their management...are not third-party landlords but the people who live in flats"Freeholders argue that the English Housing Survey suggests 93% of leaseholders living in flats are satisfied with being an owner occupier (the survey doesn't ask specifically about being a leaseholder).Despite this, the government is introducing reforms widely seen as the biggest shake-up of home...