How Rishi Sunak can finally win over ‘generation rent’

‘We’ve had 30 years of vested interests standing in the way of change,’ Rishi Sunak declared in his conference speech in Manchester. Now he has chance to prove that he intends to do something about it. 

Back in May, it was reported that Sunak himself had squashed Michael Gove’s proposals for banning new leasehold properties – which Gove had described as a ‘feudal’ system of tenure. They remain a money-spinner for the freehold owners of blocks of flats, many of whom are offshore-registered companies. 

Leaseholders are constantly complaining of being overcharged for service charges – something which has intensified after the cladding scandal, with leaseholders often finding themselves on the hook. Some leaseholders have discovered too late that their ground rent doubles every 10 years – stinging them for a fortune after a few decades. Government has frequently promised to intervene, yet proposals have often been watered down after lobbying from powerful freehold owners.