The idea
I would like to see the leasehold system held on many properties scrapped. This is such an unfair and outdated idea where you buy a house or a flat for a silly amount of money and it is never really your own. You will always be subject to a faceless landlord and continue to pay them for the entire time you 'own' the property. It's an outdated Feudal right that urgently needs changing.
Many leaseholders will complain that they will lose out and there is already an option to buy your leasehold if you want to (or the majority of flats want to). This is out of reach for most people who have made their biggest ever purchase (their house). An assessment should be done to determine the real price of the land that your house stands on and include it within the house/ flat price. Until this is done nobody with a leasehold house can truly say that it's their castle.
Why is it important?
It is important because:
1. You never really own your house or flat
2. It reinforces the class system
3. Creates confusion over real ownership
4. Limits potential buyers looking for a freehold property
5. Makes the rich even richer
6. It's a Feudal system which goes back to the Norman Conquest where priveledged families were given huge areas of land for services to the king
7. Restricts the freedom to do what you want with 'your' property
8. To buy the freehold is usually at an inflated price
9. Property with less than about 60 years freehold are very hard to sell and the 'owner' is stuck with it or has to pay too much to buy the leasehold.
10. It goes against a basic human right to create your own security by buying your own shelter
11. Most land owned in the UK can still be traced back to Norman families, monarchy/ state and the church
12. It's very unfair