The number of new houses sold as leaseholds has sharply fallen, apparently in response to campaigners who have drawn attention to the problems purchasers face.

These include restrictions on what leaseholders can do with their homes, onerous service charges and ground rents doubling every ten years, which have left some lease owners  unable to sell their homes.

The Government has also outlined a series of measures to reform leaseholds amid concerns about unfair terms and practices in the sector, including commitments to scrap the sale of leasehold houses.

In England and Wales, 4.2% of all new houses were sold as leasehold in 2018, down from 13.3% in 2017, ONS data shows.

Sales of existing leasehold houses in 2018 remained similar to 2017, at 6.6% of all sales.

There were 3,242 new houses and 41,686 existing houses sold as leasehold in England and Wales during 2018, the ONS said.

The north-west of England remained the region with the highest percentage, with 21.8% of all new house sales being leasehold in 2018, although this fell from 58.5% in 2017.

London had the second-highest percentage, with 15.9% of new house sales that were leasehold. This was a relatively small drop from 2017.