The leasehold reform dream could be over for leaseholders across the country, as the Treasury fears the move would have wiped up to £40bn off pension fund investment. That is according to a report in the Sunday Times yesterday.
The National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) responded last night by saying it is “disappointed” to hear that the government is allegedly going soft on leasehold reform.
A company spokesperson said last night: “We know that thousands of leaseholders have responded to the government’s Ground Rent consultation, explaining in their droves why existing ground rents need to be reduced to a peppercorn to avoid the inherent unfairness of a two-tier system now that ground rents are limited to a peppercorn on new build properties.
“It is extremely frustrating that, if the rumours are true, the Treasury and the prime minister have been hoodwinked by sector lobbyists who have no regard for the leasehold misery faced by millions of leaseholders across the country. It also seems they are running scared from legal challenges funded by freehold investors with skin in the ground rent game and deep pockets.
“We believe that retrospective action on ground rents would have no material impact on pension schemes, and those pension schemes that do have ground rent investments should be reassessing them – no reputable company with a responsible and ethical investment strategy would invest in ground rents if they saw first-hand the misery they cause and the deplorable sales tactics that have led so many leaseholders to have onerous ground rents.
“With a general election looming, abandoning a manifesto commitment that would help thousands of leaseholders is just pure folly.”
Tories accused of ditching manifesto pledge to scrap ground rents
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