What Are Labour's Plans For Leasehold?

Campaigners are looking more towards Labour to abolish Leasehold as the party edges closer to power – but many are concerned reforming the sector will not be a top priority for the party.

A leaseholder is a tenant who has paid to live in a property for a select period of time, and often includes apparent homeowners. Government data suggests long-term leaseholds usually last between 99-125 years.

Once the agreement ends, the property returns to the landlord, who owns the home and the plot of land. Government data suggests there are almost five million leasehold properties in England, which makes up 20 per cent of the current housing stock.

Labour is ahead in every major opinion poll and has enjoyed a healthy 20-point lead over the Conservative Party since Liz Truss served as prime minister for 49 days in 2022, according to data from YouGov.

Yet Keir Starmer’s party faces a number of key challenges if it wins power at the next election. It will inherit a low-growth economy with high levels of public sector debt.

Sebastian O’Kelly, CEO at Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, told PoliticsHome Labour was “promising a lot”, but he believed it was unlikely to be a priority for an incoming Labour Government.

“The opposition is promising a lot but it's unlikely to be a priority of the Labour government. Matthew Pennycook is doing the politically prudent thing which is to be pretty imprecise,” he said.

O’Kelly implored the party, which has made housebuilding a key part of its electoral pitch to voters, to look at improving housing ownership as well as boosting supply.

“Tenure is something they've got to get their heads around. There’s no point in increasing housing supply if you’re going to continue to produce legal rubbish like leasehold