New leasehold figures have been released by the Government, coinciding with today’s planned second reading of the Leasehold Reform Bill.

It is a Private Members’ Bill, introduced under the Ten Minute Rule by Justin Madders.

The Bill sets out to make it easier for leaseholders to buy freeholds, and aims to have an enquiry into leasehold practices set up within three months of becoming law – something the Government has effectively already agreed to.

The Bill sets out the terms of reference for the inquiry, which includes looking into the increase in new build houses being sold as leaseholds; and considering any relationship between Help to Buy and the number of new build houses sold leasehold.

Meanwhile, the official new figures show that in 2016/17, there were an estimated 4.3m leasehold homes in England, about 18% of the housing stock.

Of these, 2.3m were in the owner-occupied sector and 1.7m were privately owned and let privately.

Two thirds, of 2.9m, of the leasehold dwellings in England were flats, and the remaining one-third, 1.4m were houses.

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: “Although the Government recently announced a consultation to improve the leasehold sector and crack down on unfair practices for new properties, these figures show that thousands of home owners are already trapped.

“Home owners across the country are facing increasing ground rent charges, fees for making alterations to their properties, and in some cases, they are unable to sell their homes.

“Our Leasehold: A Life Sentence report found that 78% of leasehold house owners bought their homes directly from the developer, and 65% used the solicitor the builder recommended.

“However, 45% didn’t realise they were only buying the leasehold until it was too late and as a result, 62% feel like they were mis-sold and the vast majority (93% say they definitely wouldn’t buy another leasehold property.

“Buying a home is a big undertaking, and those who buy a new-build are often under the impression that buying something brand new means it will be perfect.

“Unfortunately though, that isn’t the case and most buyers have no idea about the trappings of a leasehold contract until it’s too late.

“This should never have been allowed to happen, so as an industry it’s time we listened to the victims and sought a robust solution for all those affected.”

The Bill, as originally published, can be found at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2017-2019/0121/18121.pdf