Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.

No End in Sight for Leasehold, Campaigners Warn

Leasehold campaigners have warned there is no end in sight for the 'feudal' leasehold system, despite Government promises to end it. Angela Rayner has said legislation will be 'coming very soon', but cautioned it will take time.

Katie Kendrick OBE, Founder of the National Leasehold Campaign, told The Negotiator that leaseholders are seeing none of the promised legislation to end what she described as their nightmare.

Campaigner warns of a widening gap

Kendrick said that while ministers work behind the scenes, millions of leaseholders remain trapped in a broken and exploitative system, facing rising costs, uncertainty and injustice. They see no change, feel no benefit, and fear they are being left behind, she argued.

She warned that administrative caution cannot become a moratorium on progress, and acknowledged that abolishing leasehold is complex and that vested interests will fight to protect the status quo. Complexity is not an excuse for delay, she said, noting the Government was elected on a promise of change and must now deliver it.

Kendrick went on to warn that the gap between the promise to abolish leasehold and the reality facing leaseholders is growing wider, not narrower. Freeholders are threatening legal action to defend a system that profits from other people's homes, she said, and ministers must be clear about whose side they are on.

According to the report, Kendrick said leaseholders have moved beyond plans, consultations and promises, and do not want leasehold reformed — they want it abolished. The time for caution has passed, she added, and the Government must show courage, urgency and political will to end leasehold for good.

Rayner: legislation 'coming very soon'

Kendrick's comments follow Angela Rayner's radio interview at the weekend about the end of leasehold. On LBC Radio, presenter Lewis Goodall referred to Labour's manifesto promise to "bring the feudal leasehold system to an end", and asked whether Labour would abolish leasehold by the end of the Parliament.

Rayner responded that legislation would be "coming very soon", adding: "It will take time. It is complex. We are going to end that system. It doesn't happen overnight."

What this means for agents

For letting agents and inventory clerks, the continued uncertainty over leasehold reform means the existing system remains in place for now. With no legislation yet delivered, leasehold properties continue to be let and managed under current arrangements, and the sector will be watching closely for the promised legislation.