With the government currently consulting on ‘restricting ground rent for existing leases’, the NLC is galvanising leaseholders to respond to this consultation en masse.

The consultation paper outlines five options:

+ Capping ground rent at a peppercorn

+ Capping ground rent at an absolute maximum financial value

+ Capping ground rents at a percentage of the property value

+ Capping ground rent at the original amount it was when the lease was granted.

+ Freezing ground rent at current levels

NLC are encouraging leaseholder to boycott all the other options and only select capping existing ground rents at a peppercorn.

Cath Williams, co-founder of the NLC, said: “The rationale we put forward for choosing this option is simple.  Peppercorn ground rents are positive for leaseholders, lenders, and the wider market because it removes the 2-tier market where new leases are now a peppercorn under the Ground Rent 2022 legislation.  All the other options perpetuate some kind of ground rent income for investors for no service and therefore are not acceptable’.

Katie Kendrick, founder of the NLC, commented: “We need to kill leasehold off at the roots.  It’s a feudal iniquitous system.  The aim of the NLC has always remained clear, to Abolish Leasehold.  The Ground Rent Act 2022 was welcomed as it banned new leases being able to charge a ground rent but what it did do was disadvantage existing leaseholders by making their ground rent terms less desirable.  Our members are reporting they are losing sales due to ground rent terms.  The only way we can re-align new leases with existing leases is by reducing them to a peppercorn”.

Jo Darbyshire, co-Founder of the NLC, added: “If this government is truly serious about moving away from leasehold and paving the way for Commonhold, a move to a peppercorn ground rent is the only option.”