The reforms in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 aim to give you more control over your building, make service charges and building insurance clearer and fairer, and reduce the cost of challenging unreasonable service charges.
| Area of change | Proposed change |
|---|---|
| Service charges transparency | Bills must be in a standardised, easy-to-read format. Landlords will have to provide an annual report, giving information about the condition of the building and plans for major works. Service charge accounts will be standardised, and signed off by a qualified professional. Leaseholders will have new rights to information going back up to 6 years. |
| Buildings insurance | The government plans to reform the way building insurance costs are charged to leaseholders, including replacing unclear commission arrangements with a transparent and fair permitted insurance payment. |
| Administration charges | Landlords that plan to charge administration charges will have to publish details of their charges, in a standard format. |
| Challenging unreasonable charges | Landlords will need approval from a court or tribunal before they can add their legal costs of tribunal cases to the service charge. There will be a new right for leaseholders to apply to recover their own legal costs in some circumstances. |
| Redress schemes | Landlords who manage their own building will have to join a government-approved redress (complaints) scheme. |
| Right to manage and right to appoint a manager | New measures to reduce the costs, paperwork and time it takes for leaseholders to manage the building themselves or appoint their own agent. |
The government consulted on these proposed changes in 2025. The outcome of the consultation was published in July 2026. New regulations are expected later in 2026, and the government has said that leaseholders will start to see changes during 2027.
What to do now?
Use your current rights to check and challenge charges – you have the right to request information about them and challenge unreasonable ones:
Check if you qualify for the right to manage your building and if you and your neighbours want to use it.
Get help resolving leasehold disputes between you and your landlord (freeholder) or their managing agents.
- Last updated:
- 10 August 2026
- Next review:
- 5 February 2027