Overview

The main reforms in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will affect:

• lease extensions
• buying the freehold
• service charges, buildings insurance and management
• ground rent ‘buyout’

The reforms aim to make it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold, increase standard lease extension terms to 990 years for houses and flats, and provide greater transparency over service charges. They will also remove barriers for leaseholders to challenge their landlords’ unreasonable charges at a tribunal.

Although the Act has been passed, many of these changes have not yet been introduced.

The government published a Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill in January 2026. A final bill will be presented to Parliament in due course.

The draft legislation includes:

• fixing some problems in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, so that planned changes to lease extension, buying the freehold and buying out ground rent can go ahead
• capping ground rents at £250 a year before changing to a “peppercorn rent” (effectively zero) after 40 years
• a comprehensive new legal framework for commonhold
• banning the use of leasehold for most new flats, so that in future they will be commonhold
• making it easier for leaseholders to convert their homes to commonhold
• abolishing the existing forfeiture regime, and replacing it with a fairer and more proportionate lease enforcement regime
• repealing similar enforcement powers that apply to estate rent charges on privately managed freehold estates

These proposals are not yet law.

In September 2026 the government announced plans for further reforms:

• caps on permission fees and administration charges to ensure they are reasonable – these include fees for permission to keep a pet or to provide information held by the landlord (freeholder)
• regulation of property managers – they will be required to hold a licence and have appropriate qualifications to operate. A new independent regulator will have powers to set standards and revoke licences if operators fail to meet the standard

The details and timing for these changes are not yet known and will be subject to consultation.

The government has not confirmed a date for when all the reforms will be fully implemented.

Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act changes

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is being implemented in phases. Many reforms need further consultation and secondary legislation.

Some reforms have already been implemented. For example, the old 2-year ownership rule has been abolished, so leaseholders do not need to have owned their home for 2 years before qualifying for the right to extend their lease or buy the freehold.

The changes relating to service charges and building management are expected to be made from 2027 onwards.

The government has said that the planned changes to lease extension, buying the freehold and buying out ground rent cannot be made until after the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is passed. This is because some changes to the 2024 Act are needed first, which will be included in the new bill.

Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill changes

The proposals in the draft bill have been considered by the Housing, Communities and Local Government select committee. The committee published its report in May 2026 which the government will now consider.

The plans for the bill were confirmed in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026.

A final bill will be presented to Parliament in due course which will need to be passed by both Houses (Commons and Lords) before it passes into law. Once the bill has Royal Assent, its measures may be brought into force at different times.

The government has indicated that (subject to parliamentary approval):

• the £250 a year ground rent cap could be introduced in 2028
• the new commonhold model could be available in 2029
• forfeiture reforms would be introduced as soon as possible after Royal Assent