To ask the Minister of Finance, further to the UK Government’s ban on charging ground rent on leases in England and Wales, what steps his Department is taking to reform ground rent.

The system of land tenure in England and Wales differs substantially from land law in this jurisdiction. In England and Wales, issues around exponential increases in ground rents have necessitated reform.

This issue has not been raised by many existing tenants in this jurisdiction and following the introduction of the Property (NI) Order 1997, no new ground rents, or increases to ground rents, have been permitted in dwelling houses.

The reform of the law on ground rent is therefore not an area currently under consideration by the Department for the purposes of legislation.

It is possible for a tenant to buy out their ground rent in this jurisdiction. Information on how to do this is available on the NI Direct website.