UK leaseholders are grappling with unpredictable and rapidly rising housing costs that have the greatest impact on their day-to-day finances, a new survey has revealed.

Following the government’s announcement that its response to the Housing Committee’s leasehold report will not be released before the two-month deadline on 27 July 2026, the survey also found that the political debate on leasehold reform continues to focus on issues that the majority of leaseholders do not consider a priority.

The survey found:

• 38.5% of leaseholders identify service charges as the cost that had increased most unexpectedly, the largest single concern of eleven options
• Ground rent costs are currently 5^th on the priority list for leaseholders
• 88.1% found their ground rent affordable or were neutral
• Only 13.8% identified reducing or abolishing ground rents as the government reform that would make the greatest difference to them.

However, Justice for Property Rights, which organised the survey, says the government’s own explanation of the proposed legislation reinforces the need for evidence-led policymaking. In a recent letter to one of its members, housing secretary Steve Reed MP acknowledged that the government’s proposals are intended to address “a specific issue” and that ministers believe the reforms are “a proportionate approach”. Yet the latest independent research suggests the issue ministers are prioritising is not the one leaseholders consider most urgent.

Commonhold, legislated during Tony Blair’s premiership, remains a crucial option as a long-term solution, but will take years to become the main form of ownership. Justice for Property Rights is calling for a speedier and more targeted response: strengthening the right to manage (RTM), so leaseholders can take control of appointing and directing their own managing agents immediately, rather than waiting for structural reform.

The government’s proposal is to cap ground rents at £250 per annum, confiscate rent after 40 years (without indexation), and give huge discounts for lease extensions. Justice for Property Rights is warning that the fear of new legislation has already wiped out an estimated 70% of existing ground rent assets and will hit pensioners and small investors the hardest.

Richard Merrin, spokesperson for Justice for Property Rights, said: “The housing secretary says these reforms are designed to address ‘a specific issue’ and represent ‘a proportionate approach’. And yet our research demonstrates that ministers are focusing on the wrong issue altogether. If almost four in ten leaseholders say service charges are their biggest financial concern, while only 13.8% believe abolishing ground rents would make the greatest difference, then government has a duty to explain why its flagship reforms are aimed elsewhere.

“Mr Reed also stated in his letter, ‘After 40 years, ground rents will then be capped at a peppercorn, which means that they will effectively be abolished’. This is factually wrong, it will not. The land will still be owned by the freeholders, but the ground rent income stream will cease; unlike the freeholders’ obligations to the leaseholders which will remain exactly the same, as they have not been stripped away by this law. Removing rent will simply bankrupt freeholders and create chaos for leaseholders. It risks creating a huge additional burden on UK taxpayer through freeholder compensation claims at the ECHR.

“Leaseholders have told us clearly what they want fixed, and it isn’t ground rent. It’s service charges they can’t predict, can’t challenge and often can’t afford. Government has an opportunity to fix the biggest concern amongst leaseholders by implementing transparency requirements and empowering leaseholders to manage the cost of their own homes.

“This research offers government a clear choice: legislate on the evidence or continue legislating on assumption. Leaseholders have told us plainly that service charges, not ground rent, are what’s damaging their finances month-on-month. Strengthening the Right to Manage would fix that immediately, without waiting years for commonhold to become the norm.

“At the same time, we cannot ignore the risks building on the other side of this debate. The current approach to ground rent has already wiped out 70% of the value of lawfully acquired assets, with billions in potential legal claims that could land on taxpayer shoulders. That is not a price worth paying for reform that doesn’t address leaseholders’ main concern.

“Government now has the evidence in front of it directly sourced from British leaseholders themselves. The Housing Secretary also states that this is ‘one of the most significant overhauls of property law in decades’. That is precisely why Government should pause before proceeding. Legislation of this scale should be driven by robust evidence of what leaseholders actually want, together with a full economic impact assessment of the consequences. Our research suggests those priorities have become disconnected.”