London (27th January 2026) – The Social Democratic Party (SDP), the party of the patriotic state, rejects the government’s weak leasehold reforms for falling far short of what is needed. By capping ground rents at £250 per annum, the government has enabled the continuation of a shameless system of rent-seeking at the expense of millions of flat holders and leaseholders.
In its place, the SDP calls for the effective abolition of all ground rents for residential leasehold properties.
Abolition of ground rent would improve the standard of living for many leaseholders, allow them to sell their properties at a fair price, and increase residential transaction volumes in tight housing markets such as London. At the same time, such a move would have no impact of significance on pension funds, since investments in residential ground rents represent just 1% of their assets under management.
William Clouston, SDP leader, said:
“The inflation of ground rents in recent decades – along with the growth in dubious service charges – has been a national disgrace. Many of the five million Britons who own a flat or a leasehold property, after saving for years to buy their home, have ended up trapped and in some cases pushed to financial ruin by predatory rent-seekers and their hangers-on, some of them acting in a shameful, cartel-like way. This needs to end. “In light of the apparent sabotage of leasehold reform at the hands the Attorney General, Lord Hermer, we also once again call for Britain to abandon the ECHR. Legalistic fanatics like Hermer, in using the ECHR to oppose leasehold reform, have shown that its unconditional elevation of ‘rights’ at the expense of any idea of a common good is incompatible with parliamentary democracy.”
Note to editors:
- For further information, and to arrange interviews, please contact Jack.Goodwin@sdphq.org.uk.
