Cavendish Legal Group comment - time to remove spectre of escalating ground rents

19 March 2021

Commenting on the news that the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has ordered two housebuilders to change their leasehold terms, Jonathan Frankel, litigation partner at Cavendish Legal Group said: “Today’s action by the CMA will be seen as a welcome move by all those leaseholders who feel trapped and unable to sell their property due to unfair escalating ground rents.

“It also sends out the key message that leasehold terms are not written in stone, they can be changed. Leaseholders need to be reminded that as consumers they have rights, and they have a legal option to reduce these rents to zero.

“It is also positive news for leaseholders that the scope of the investigation by the CMA includes investment companies buying up property from developers with these contracts baked in, as these are also passed onto the leaseholder.

“We await the full outcome of the investigation and hope it will lead to the next generation of leaseholders being able to buy their homes, without the spectre of escalating ground rents hanging over them.”