<p><span>Retirement housebuilders will be exempt from the government’s plan to reduce ground rents for </span><span>new leases </span><span>to zero financial value, as part of the leasehold reforms it has confirmed it will implement.</span></p> <p><span>Responding to its consultation from last autumn on implementing reforms to the leasehold system in England, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said it acknowledged that with retirement properties, “ground rent income is sometimes used to recover the development costs of the communal facilities contained within”.</span></p> <p><span>The exemption, as laid out in the consultation, would be subject to conditions, MHCLG stated. This includes retirement housebuilders offering buyers the choice of paying a higher purchase price in exchange for zero ground rent.</span></p> <p><span>Retirement housebuilder McCarthy &amp; Stone said it was “pleased” that it would be permitted to charge an “economic ground rent", with ministers recognising “the unique way the sector uses ground rents to recover much of the construction costs of the significant shared areas that are integral to retirement living and which deliver direct benefit to customers”.</span></p> <p><span>John Tonkiss, McStone’s ceo, said: “Retirement communities make a real difference to the lives of our customers by bringing older people together, addressing loneliness and improving their overall …