What the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 is, how to ask for a refund for a prohibited rent payment.
The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 (“the Act”) came into force on 30 June 2022.
According to the Act, a ‘landlord', or a person acting on their behalf, cannot ask a leaseholder to make a payment of prohibited rent. This applies to most new long residential leasehold agreements in England and Wales.
The ‘landlord' can refer to many different parties under a lease. They may be:
- the same person as the freeholder
- a leaseholder with a long lease (without a right to possession of your home), sitting between you and the freeholder
A prohibited rent is any rent that exceeds ‘a peppercorn'. A ‘peppercorn rent' is a rent of next to zero financial value.
You can find more information for:
- England on The Department for Levelling Up, Housing, and Communities' (DLUHC) webpage
- Wales on the Welsh Government's Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022: guidance for leaseholders, landlords and agents web page Go to https://www.gov.wales/leasehold-reform-ground-rent-act-2022-guidance-leaseholders-landlords-and-agents (opens new window)
If you've made a prohibited rent payment that has not been refunded, you can complain to your local enforcement authority either directly or through the Citizens' Advice Consumer Helpline.
An enforcement authority will not be able to order repayment of a prohibited rent payment if you've already applied to a Tribunal for a recovery order.
Resources for leaseholders
We've put together resources to help leaseholders:
- ask for a refund of prohibited rent (ground rent) payments from their landlords
- get independent advice on leasehold disputes
You can:
- send a document Stage 1 leaseholder letter (26 KB) to your landlord (demand for repayment) (or the document Stage 1 Welsh language version (32 KB) )
- send a document Stage 2 leaseholder letter (25 KB) to your landlord (letter before action) (or the document Stage 2 Welsh language version (31 KB) )
- get advice from Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE)
- get advice from the Citizens' Advice consumer helpline
If you send any of the above letters to your landlord, keep a copy for your own records:
- email a copy of the letter to your landlord, or
- post a copy of the letter to the landlord's address listed in the lease
