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Robert Hailstone's comments highlight the worst part of this problem. The media have got hold of it. In doing so, the debate on what is a complex area of law (that many law student struggle to get to grips with and even some qualified solicitors never do) is paraphrased and misunderstood in a way that obfuscates rather than clarifies and informs.
Commonholds were a good idea (not unlike the French equivalent Co-Propriete) but lenders eschewed them so they never took off. Leaseholds, I have always considered as a contractual arrangement for an air space as well as a legal estate in land. The problems are not in leases themselves but in the abuse of them and the now seemingly standard method of sticking-plaster legislation.
There are similar abuses of leasehold law by National Trust in relation to its scheduled estate as any delve into their tenants' forums will quickly show. Many people seem to forget that under the '67 Act there is only one statutory lease extension. NT commonly granted a fifty year lease with a forty-nine year extension immediately thereafter - regardless of the fact that they have a general exemption from that Act anyway. It seems to have escaped many of our profession (not those who contribute here of course!) that almost all of the subsequent statutory patches in relation to extensions of term, rights to acquire and manage and limitations on service charges apply to flats but not to houses.
Escalating ground Rents are the other nightmare waiting to engulf us. If, as our American cousins say, you do the Math, a 125 year lease with an initial ground rent of £250 that doubles every 10 years has an annual ground rent in the last 5 years of £1,024,000. Now, that is going to be pretty crippling no matter what the state of inflation may be between then and now. Does nobody understand an exponential curve? I recently rejected such a lease on an estate from a relatively large developer, and was told with surprise that 'everyone else has accepted it'!! If there is to be legislative change it needs to reach a whole load more dark corners than just sticking a plaster over new-build leasehold houses.
What is wrong with a good old Variable Estate Rentcharge? Still valid and exempt from the statutory sell-by date in 2037. The only thing they need is the same increase limitations as apply to leasehold flats.