Commonhold will be the default tenure for flats in England and Wales under plans to bring the “feudal” leasehold system to an end.

The change will give homeowners a stake in the ownership of their buildings and will hand them more power, control and security over their homes.

The proposals to ban leaseholds are part of the latest government plans to reform home ownership and bring it more in line with the rest of the world.

Changes set out in the commonhold white paper announced this week include: new rules to enable commonhold to work for all types of developments; greater flexibility over development rights; new measures to protect their stake in buildings and protect the solvency of commonholds such as mandatory public liability insurance; and strengthening the management of commonholds.

Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said: “By taking decisive steps to reinvigorate commonhold and make it the default tenure, we will ensure that it is homeowners, not third-party landlords, who will own the buildings they live in and have a greater say in how their home is managed and the bills they pay.”

Sheldon Bosley Knight’s associate director and regional sales manager Kevin Jackson said the proposals will be a “welcome change for those who wish to have more control over their property and its maintenance”.

He said: “The proposal will remove the land ownership from the original freeholder and share the ownership across all those that have a dwelling within the development. This of course doesn’t always only apply to flats and apartment as some houses can have leasehold tenure. 

“Whilst the anticipation of huge savings around service charges and ground rent may be valid, this may not deliver the saving that most would hope for since there will always be a requirement to maintain communal areas and general building maintenance, but it will allow owners to have more say in the running of any development.”