Dame Nia Griffith has welcomed the UK Labour Government’s announcement that ground rents will be capped at £250 a year, calling it a “long overdue step that will make a real difference to leaseholders in Llanelli.”
The Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Steve Reed, confirmed the cap as part of a wider package of measures.
Dame Nia said the change will bring relief to families in the area who have faced unfair and escalating charges in recent years.
“I have spoken to, met with and campaigned alongside many local residents who have been disadvantaged by this scandalous practice for far too long. This cap will save some families hundreds of pounds a year and finally puts an end to one of the worst injustices of the leasehold system. It is a long overdue step that will make a real difference to leaseholders in Llanelli.”
Alongside the cap, the UK Government has published the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, which will strengthen the rights and protections of more than five million leaseholders who are set to benefit from stronger controls, powers and protections in a change that fundamentally rewires homeownership across England and Wales.
New leasehold flats will also be banned and homeownership strengthened thanks to groundbreaking legislation that will give people control over their homes and calls an end to the feudal leasehold system which dates to medieval times.
Forfeiture, whereby leaseholders can lose their home and the equity they built up by defaulting on a debt as low as £350, will also be abolished and a new process to make it easier for existing leaseholders to convert to commonhold will be introduced where homeowners will receive a stake in the ownership of their buildings and greater control over how the building is managed and the bills they pay.
Llanelli’s Member of Parliament added:
“This important action to support leaseholders with the cost of living comes after years of inaction and neglect.
“This is fantastic news for many leaseholders in my Llanelli constituency who have been trapped in an unfair system for too long. I’m proud that a Labour Government has been able to deliver on this where the previous Tory Government failed. It was a promise that we made in our General Election manifesto in 2024 and I’m delighted that this is now a promise that we are delivering on.”