asked the Minister for Justice if he has any proposals to protect tenants of foreign landlords from threats to their livelihood by unjust requests for increases in rents; and if he has any proposals in mind for the final abolition of ground rents.
Written Answers. - Ground Rents Policy.
14.
Normally ground rent has been fixed for the full period of a lease. The Landlord and Tenant Acts, 1967 to 1987 provide a code under which ground rent tenants in general are given the right either to obtain renewals of ground rent leases or to purchase the fee simple, that is, to buy out the ground rent.
The Landlord and Tenant (Amendment) Act, 1980, which I initiated, sets out the terms on which ground rent leases are renewable. Where a ground rent lease has expired, the terms of renewal are likely to differ very substantially from the terms of the expired lease, which may have been settled 100 years ago or more. This is why successive governments have encouraged people to buy out their ground rents well before their leases expire.
The special ground rents purchase scheme of 1978 which I also initiated — and extended for an indefinite period in 1987 — applies to all dwellinghouse owners. It is also applicable to a renewed lease.
The legislation I have mentioned represents the policy of the Government on ground rents.