This week, I announced a change that will put money back into people’s pockets and give millions more control over their own homes: we’re capping ground rents at £250.
For leaseholders paying more than that, it means lower bills. Fewer nasty surprises through the letterbox. And greater security for families that have saved and sacrificed to own their homes.
That matters, because it speaks to what most of us were brought up to believe: that if you work hard, do the right thing and save what you can, one day you might be fortunate enough to have the security that comes from owning a home.
And that security is about more than just a roof over your head. It’s about protection from the things you can’t control — sudden rent hikes, surprise charges. The kind of financial shocks that can knock even the most careful families off balance.
Many of us remember our first step onto the housing ladder: that feeling of pride, the sense that we’d built something we could rely on — and the relief that those promises our parents made had finally come good.
But for too many leaseholders today, that promise has come up short.
Instead of stability, they find themselves trapped in an outdated system that gives them nothing in return. They pay again and again for homes they already own.
Some are hit with charges they never anticipated and often cannot challenge. Others are trapped in properties that are deemed “unmortgageable” because of spiralling costs — unable to sell, move, or plan their lives. And despite a lifetime spent trying to protect against it, many are still feeling the sharp edge of the cost-of-living crisis.
Nowhere is this clearer than in London. Around half a million leaseholders in London and the South pay ground rents above £250 — far higher than the rest of the country. In a city where housing already stretches budgets to their limits, these outdated charges bite even harder.
We will pull every lever available
Ending these excessive ground rents will put real money back into their pockets — with many families saving over £4,000 by the end of their lease. For some, that will mean a little extra at the end of the month to spend on the things they enjoy.
But for most, it will mean that little bit of breathing space they need to start looking ahead again.
Owning a home shouldn’t feel like a trap. It should mean stability. Control. And a genuine stake in the place you live
Because I know that people are still under real pressure from the cost of living every day. And I don’t pretend any one change is a silver bullet. That’s why we’re cutting £150 from average energy bills. Freezing rail fares and prescription charges. Reducing the cost of childcare. Boosting the minimum wage. And why we’ll continue to pull every lever available to lift the weight where we can.
And it’s also why we have to tackle the deeper problem behind these costs: the outdated systems that allowed them to spiral in the first place.
Because after years of saving, owning a home shouldn’t feel like a trap. It should mean stability. Control. And a genuine stake in the place you live.
Giving power back to the people
So, we’re going even further. We’re banning the sale of new leasehold flats and strengthening home ownership with the most significant reform in a generation — groundbreaking legislation that finally puts power back where it belongs: in the hands of the people who worked for it.
More than five million people will benefit from these changes. For families under pressure, they will bring lower bills. For those who feel stuck, they will remove the obstacles to moving on. And, at the heart of it, they will restore something more fundamental: confidence that the home they worked for is truly their own.
And our commitment to security doesn’t stop at the front door of homeowners. It extends to the millions who rent their homes too.
We have to cut unfair costs. We have to fix the broken systems that allow them
Announcements this week will work alongside our landmark Renters’ Rights Act, which is delivering the biggest boost to renters’ security in a generation — ending unfair “no fault” evictions, stopping endless bidding wars, and giving millions of people the stability they deserve.
Together, these changes are about making good on that promise many of us grew up with: that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should be able to feel secure about the future.
Because with so many families still struggling, warm words are not enough. We have to cut unfair costs. We have to fix the broken systems that allow them. And we have to use every tool at our disposal to make daily life easier for the people who keep this country going.
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