McCarthy & Stone demands exemption

The market leader in developing retirement homes has urged the government to exempt it from plans to reduce ground rents on new long leases to zero. McCarthy & Stone used a trading update for the first half of its year to say that it was working in a state of uncertainty and wanted “swift clarification” on the new rules. Last summer the government said that it would ban the sale of new houses on a leasehold basis and was setting all ground rents on long leases to zero, including on newly built flats. The group has cut back on land buying as it braces for a potential hit from the government plans according to the Telegraph. In its market update on Tuesday, it said it had bought 22 sites in the six months to February 28, down from 30 in the same period last year, as it took a “a more measured approach to land buying” to mitigate the potential impact of a ban. Click here for the full Times article (£) Click here for the full Telegraph article