The NLC has warned that millions of Leaseholders remain trapped in a feudal system, widely condemned as outdated, unfair and unfit for modern housing, as the Government’s latest 2024 -2025 leasehold figures reveal the crisis is far from over – and in some areas worsening.
National Leasehold Campaign (NLC) responds to 2024-2025 leasehold statistics.
There are 4.9 million leasehold homes in England – around 20% of all housing stock. These are not inclusive of numbers from Wales.
More than a quarter of a million households are now at or below the 80-year threshold. That’s 10% of leasehold homes in the 80-year danger zone of either approaching the 80-years or has fell below. Leaseholders crossing this line face significantly higher costs to extend their lease due to marriage value. Properties can become unsellable or unmortgageable almost overnight.
Katie Kendrick said,
“The 80-year trap is not theoretical – it is happening right now to hundreds of thousands. Leaseholders are being forced to gamble. Act now and pay inflated costs or wait and risk falling off a financial cliff edge. That is an impossible position to be in”
Leasehold dates to the Domesday book, but the direction of travel must now shift decisively and quickly.
Katie Kendrick said
“The latest figures make clear that the trajectory of leasehold reform is not yet changing – and must do so urgently if they are going to end leasehold. What we are seeing is not a system in decline – but one that is persisting”.
This system is entrenched with inequality.
The NLC says this demonstrates that leasehold is not just a flat issue, nor a ‘London’ issue. It’s one that is affecting families across the country.
Cath Williams said,
“Leasehold continues to have a stranglehold over our housing market. People’s lives are on hold; their homes are effectively controlled by a system they cannot escape from. Until these reforms are fully delivered, nothing has fundamentally changed for leaseholders”
The NLC is calling for speed on the promised reforms. They are urging the Government to act without further delay:
● Abolish Marriage value and remove the 80-year cliff edge now.
● Prioritise protections for existing leaseholders, not just future buyers.
● Accelerate the transition to Commonhold
● Cap ground rents now at £250 not in 2 years.
● Abolish Forfeiture
● Implement the outstanding provisions of the 2024 Act.
● Regulate Managing Agents
● Implement the Law commissions recommendations on Right To Manage.
Jo Darbyshire said,
“Leaseholders do not have the luxury of time. Every single day of delay more homes become unsellable, and more families are pushed closer to financial crisis. This is not just a policy issue – it is a national housing injustice hiding in plain sight. If the Government is serious about ending this feudal system, then the pace, priority and direction of reform must change now. Leaseholders have waited long enough”.
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