UK government moves to ban new leasehold flats and replace with commonhold ownership

The government's Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill would ban new leasehold flats and introduce commonhold, where residents collectively own their buildings.

• Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the people who should own buildings are not third-party landlords but the people who live in flats.
• Commonhold was introduced in 2004 but has only been used in 18 developments in England, according to the Land Registry.
• Freeholders argue that the English Housing Survey shows 93% of leaseholders are satisfied with being owner-occupiers.
• Professor Nick Hopkins, specialist adviser to the House of Commons committee, said commonhold provides the right legal basis for dealing with issues that can arise in flat ownership.