Communities secretary Sajid Javid said he plans to tackle the issue of unfair leaseholds that can see buyers forced to pay ever-increasing ground rent.
Javid told a conference he would look to ensure that help-to-buy equity loans were only used in cases where new-build houses were sold on fair terms.
Developers have in recent years turned to selling houses as leasehold rather than the traditional freehold. Buyers then have to pay ground rent to the developer or a third party if the contract is sold on.
