There has been a lot of buzz around the new UK ground rent legislation that was introduced in 2021. The government’s aim is to make leasehold properties fairer for the occupiers by providing more rights and protections. Many homeowners in the UK who have been struggling with increasing ground rent payments have welcomed this new law. But there still seems to be some confusion about whether this new legislation will completely eliminate ground rent payments or not.

To answer the question, Will I still have to pay ground rent under the new UK ground rent legislation? The short answer is yes, but with some significant changes. The new legislation focuses on regulating the increasing ground rents, which will provide leaseholders some breathing space.

The new legislation applies to all new lease agreements, which will limit the ground rent payments to zero. It means that the new leasehold agreement will not include any ground rent payments. However, this only applies to new agreements and not to the existing ones.

For the existing leasehold agreements, the new legislation sets out a cap on the ground rent. The cap will be linked to the current inflation rate and will limit the amount of ground rent that a landlord can charge. This cap on the ground rent will be enforced for all existing leasehold agreements that are subject to a ground rent provision that allows the amount of rent to double every ten or fifteen years.

It is worth noting that not all ground rent agreements will be subject to this legislation. Where the ground rent is set at a peppercorn lease, meaning it is essentially zero, the legislation will not apply.

There is no doubt that the new legislation will provide some relief to homeowners who have been struggling with increasing ground rent payments. But there is still the question of why homeowners should have to pay ground rent in the first place. Ground rent was introduced in the feudal times when tenants did not have ownership of the land they lived on. But in the modern era, it seems somewhat unfair that homeowners are required to pay out money for something they already own.

In conclusion, under the new UK ground rent legislation, existing leasehold agreements will still be required to pay ground rent, but with a cap to prevent excessive increases. New leasehold agreements will see ground rent payments limited to zero. While the legislation provides some relief to leaseholders, it does raise questions about the fairness of the ground rent system in the first place. Only time will tell if further changes are needed to make the leasehold system more equitable for all parties involved.

Guidance can be found on the Government website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-leasehold-reform-ground-rent-act-user-guidance/leasehold-reform-ground-rent-act-2022-guidance-for-leaseholders-landlords-and-managing-agents