Closed petition To abolish ground rent payments on existing residential property leases

Closed on 12 September 2018

1)Ground rent is a form of exploitation, particularly when it is set to double over the life of a lease every 10,15,20 or 25 years

2)The government supports setting ground rent to zero on new leases: a disparity of treatment between old and new leases would put existing leases at disadvantage

No service is essentially provided in return for ground rent payments

Freeholders already receive an income when lease is extended

Setting ground rent to zero would likely reduce rent charged to tenants by leaseholder landlords

As an alternative the government should set the maximum ground rent to £200 per year over the life of the lease

Leasehold properties with increasing ground rents are more difficult to sell as lenders are reluctant to approve mortgages to buy these properties