Leasehold and freehold reforms in England and Wales have become law, but there is no promise of a cap on ground rents.
The new law aims to make it cheaper and easier for more people to extend their leases, buy ownership and take over management of a building.
However, plans to abolish ground rent for existing leaseholders or cap it at £250 were dropped.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill was one of the final bills to pass through Parliament on Friday before the parliament proroguing for the July 4th general election.
Minister Michael Gove said, He will resign from his seat in parliament at the election. – Initially they wanted to limit ground rents to a nominal level.
This was changed to a plan for a £250 cap, but the idea was dropped entirely as the bill was rushed through at the last minute on Friday evening.
Leasehold property owners pay ground rent on top of their mortgage, but some face high fees and unexpected price increases, making it difficult to sell their home.
But freehold property owners are strongly opposed to the bill’s ground rent caps and other measures, which they say will undermine the value of their investments, and some businesses have threatened to sue the government for infringing their property rights.
Labour’s shadow housing minister, Matthew Pennycock, said his party was “committed to seeing the job through to finally end our outdated and unfair rental housing system”.
“After so long a wait and such high hopes, leaseholders up and down the country will be bitterly disappointed by the Conservative government’s failure to enact bold leasehold reform,” he added.
As the Tenancy Rights Bill was fast-tracked through the House of Lords on Friday, Conservative Lord Bailey of Paddington said: “This Bill is suboptimal and not the revolution that leaseholders across the country are desperately waiting for.”
“But it’s the only game in town and it’s taken us 22 years to get to this point.”
Other Conservative MPs accused the government of “rushing through” the bill.
The Tenancy Reform Bill, which was expected to pave the way for an end to Section 21 no-fault evictions, has been scrapped.
