Long-awaited legislation to abolish England’s “feudal” leasehold property system will be published in the second half of next year, the government has confirmed in a major update for the millions of people affected.
In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), housing minister Matthew Pennycook gave the first details of how quickly Labour intend to axe the controversial form of homeownership, as promised in their manifesto.
The minister said there will be a consultation and white paper early next year to get the plan in motion, with the aim to make commonhold “the default tenure” by the end of parliament in 2029.
The news has drawn a mixed reaction from those caught up in the system, with some hailing an end in sight and others saying it is too little too late.
What is leasehold?
Leasehold is a centuries-old form of tenure that is unique to England and Wales. People who buy their home with a lease buy the right to live there for a given number of years but don’t own the land itself, regardless of whether it is a house, or a flat in a building.
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That is the preserve of the freeholder, who can charge expensive ground rents simply for owning the land, as well as service charges for the maintenance and insurance of the properties.
There have long been concerns around leaseholders being exploited, especially by unregulated managing agents who are typically contracted to oversee the day-to-day running of buildings and can charge large fees on any works they arrange.
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Michael Gove in 2023: Leasehold ‘unfair form of property ownership’.
Criticism intensified after the building safety scandal that emerged post-Grenfell with many homeowners facing crippling bills for remediation, leaving them stuck in worthless properties they cannot sell.
That’s the case for leaseholder Peter Batt, who has not been able to live in his “once lovely” flat in Kent for the past nine months because the roof of the building has “completely failed and is disintegrating”.
This has caused damp, black mould and leaks so severe his neighbour’s ceiling below him has collapsed
The problems were raised to the building’s managing agents in February but no remediation has occurred.
Image: Hole in the roof at Mr Batt’s building
Image: Hole in the ceiling due to leaks
Image: Black mould on Mr Batt’s bathroom wall
Last week he was told he’d need to cough up £18,000 for his share of the works before any repairs can go ahead – money the 60-year-old doesn’t have.
“I genuinely see no way out unless I win the lottery, it’s been an utter nightmare”, he told Sky News.
Mr Batt and his neighbours want a temporary tin hat cover to be prioritised, given this was recommended by surveyors back in April to stop the situation deteriorating – which they say it now has.
Image: Broken ceiling in Mr Batt’s neighbour’s flat
Image: Ceiling hole
Image: Peter Batt, 60
But they have “no say over this despite shouldering all the costs”, Mr Batt added.
“The government need to look at root-and-branch reform because, in my experience, all the parties currently charged with maintaining building such as my own are incentivised almost solely around maintaining their revenue stream.
“Under the current system, no one is on the leaseholders’ side and that has to change.”
‘Death knell of leasehold’
In his WMS, Mr Pennycook said the government will introduce a “comprehensive new legal framework” on commonhold, including banning the sale of leasehold flats and converting existing leasehold tenures to the new model.
Proponents of commonhold say it would drive up safety standards, as it would give flat owners more control of the maintenance of a building while removing the cash incentive for developers to build homes on the cheap – knowing leaseholders can pick up the costs.
Image: Housing minister Matthew Pennycook
Sebastian O’Kelly, of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, welcomed today’s announcement as the “death knell of leasehold”.
He advised people not to buy leasehold properties as “the market will force pace on this”, pointing out that some developers have recently come out in support of commonhold while others “whose reputations have been shredded by the Grenfell findings will follow”.
He told Sky News: “With this momentum the reforms to improve the blighted lives of existing leaseholders will be eased. Government may think this process will be slow, but house builders will know that the leasehold game they have played so assiduously is busted.”
Delay in implementing Tories’ ‘half-baked’ reforms
But there was a more muted response from the National Leasehold Campaign, which has spent six years trying to dismantle the system.
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‘Exorbitant’ ground rents for ‘no service’
As well as announcing a roadmap for abolishing leasehold, Mr Pennycook set out a timeline for implementing reforms in the Tories’ Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (LFRA), which just about made wash-up when Rishi Sunak called the July election, after being watered down by then housing secretary Michael Gove.
The LFRA promised to abolish leaseholds on new houses but not new flats, which make up 70% of the estimated 5 million leasehold properties in England.
It also aimed to give leaseholders more rights and protections, but Mr Pennycook said the act was “half baked” so there would be delays in implementing some of its measures.
Crucially, that includes rules around new valuations, which will be consulted on next summer, he said.
‘Endless cash cow continues’
The NLC called this “very disappointing” as the mechanism was designed to make it quicker and cheaper for people to buy their freehold or extend their lease “enabling them to sell their properties and move on with their lives”.
Image: The National Leasehold Campaign wants to see the system abolished
“Our main concern now is the fate of existing leaseholders who are currently suffering at the mercy of unregulated managing agents and unscrupulous freeholders,” it added.
“The government’s published intention to ‘act as quickly as possible’ will not be quick enough and we are already seeing the despair from some NLC members who are facing bankruptcy due to escalating service charges.
“Since 2018, leaseholders have heard time and time again from former government ministers that they will end the abuses but in reality nothing has changed for existing leaseholders. Using our homes as an endless cash cow continues and millions remain trapped.”
South Korean authorities have arrested one of three Russian nationals accused of an attempted robbery during a fake crypto deal in Seoul. The suspects allegedly lured Korean investors to a hotel, where they tried to steal 1 billion won (approximately $730,000) in cash.
The Gangseo Police Precinct in Seoul detained a man in his 20s in Busan on May 27, according to a report by local news outlet JoongAng Daily. The suspect faces charges of assault and attempted robbery. The other two suspects reportedly fled South Korea shortly after the incident.
According to investigators, the robbery attempt occurred on May 21 at a hotel in Seoul’s Gangseo District. The suspects posed as participants in a peer-to-peer crypto transaction and invited 10 Korean men to the hotel.
Two were called to the room while the others waited in the lobby. Inside the room, the suspects — wearing protective vests — ambushed the victims with a replica handgun and a telescopic baton, tying their hands with cable ties.
Per the report, one of the victims managed to escape and raise the alarm, prompting the suspects to flee without the cash. Police responded to an emergency call and found one man bleeding in the lobby.
Officers discovered a cache of equipment in the suspects’ hotel room, including a replica firearm, batons, vests and a money counter. Police suspect the robbery had been carefully planned.
A request to prevent the suspects from leaving the country was filed the next morning, but two had already departed. “We have requested assistance from Interpol to track down the suspects who fled overseas,” a police official reportedly said.
Authorities are now questioning the detained suspect and preparing to seek a pretrial detention warrant.
In response, executives and investors in the crypto industry are increasingly seeking personal security services. On May 18, private firm Infinite Risks International reported a rise in requests for bodyguards and protection contracts from high-profile figures in the crypto space.
The UK economy will grow more than previously thought, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has upgraded its latest forecast.
But it warned trade tensions linked to US tariff plans will reduce UK economic growth next year.
The Washington-based UN financial agency said the UK economy will expand 1.2% this year and “gain momentum next year”.
The upgrade in forecasts, however, is slight, up from an expected 1.1% announced in April as the world reeled from the global trade war sparked by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
That April figure was a 0.5% downgrade from the projected 1.6% growth for 2025 the IMF foresaw in January and the 1.5% forecast issued in October.
It means the IMF expects the UK economy to grow less this year than it forecast in October and January.
This anticipated lower growth is largely due to tariffs – taxes on goods imported to the United States – and the uncertainty caused by shifting trade policy in the US, the world’s largest economy.
While many tariffs have been paused until 8 July, it’s unclear if deals will be in place by then and if pauses may be extended.
The effect of this has been quantified as a 0.3 percentage points lower growth by 2026 in the UK, the IMF said.
The organisation held its prediction that the UK economy will grow by 1.4% in 2026.
“The forecast assumes that global trade tensions lower the level of UK GDP by 0.3% by 2026, due to persistent uncertainty, slower activity in UK trading partners, and the direct impact of remaining US tariffs on the UK,” it said.
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It comes despite the UK having agreed a deal with the Trump administration to circumvent the 25% tariffs on cars and metals.
The IMF also cautioned that “weak productivity continues to weigh on medium-term growth prospects”.
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Interest rates “should” continue to come down, making borrowing cheaper, though the IMF acknowledged the rate-setters at the Bank of England now have a “more complex” job due to the recent rise in inflation and “fragile” growth.
The author of the report on the UK Luc Eyraud said the IMF expected the Bank to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points every three months until they reach a level of around 3%, down from the current 4.25%.
Praise was given to the UK government as the IMF said “fiscal plans strike a good balance between supporting growth and safeguarding fiscal sustainability”.
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“The UK was the fastest growing economy in the G7 for the first three months of this year and today the IMF has upgraded our growth forecast,” she said.
“We’re getting results for working people through our plan for change – with three new trade deals protecting jobs, boosting investment and cutting prices, a pay rise for three million workers through the national living wage, and wages beating inflation by £1,000 over the past year.”
Luxembourg classified virtual asset service providers (VASPs) as high-risk entities for money laundering in its 2025 National Risk Assessment (NRA), highlighting concerns over the crypto industry’s exposure to financial crime.
According to the report, the inherent risk level of VASPs is deemed “High,” driven by factors including transaction volume, client reach, distribution channels, legal structures and the international scope of operations.
The NRA identified VASPs as an emerging risk in its 2020 report after “a detailed assessment of ML inherent risks emerging from virtual assets.” This was followed by a 2022 NRA report deeming “the risks associated with crypto assets and virtual currencies as very high,” because, among other things, they are internet-based and cross-border.
The European Union, of which Luxembourg is a founding member, has been working to regulate the cryptocurrency industry. A key part of this effort is the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, which is designed to unify crypto regulation across all 27 EU member states.
Crypto value received by illicit addresses per year. Source: Chainalysis
According to reports this month, European law enforcement arrested 17 suspects of a “mafia crypto bank” for allegedly laundering over 21 million euros ($23.5 million) in crypto for Middle East and China-based criminal entities. As a result of the proceedings, 4.5 million euros ($5 million) worth of items were seized, including cash, crypto, 18 vehicles, four shotguns and several electronic devices.