Government moves towards ending ‘feudal’ leasehold system
New reforms to protect leaseholders, including shared owners and tenants of private registered providers, from hidden costs will be introduced in 2027, the government has announced in its consultation response.
Set out in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, the package of measures aims to increase transparency around service costs and empower leaseholders to challenge unreasonable charges.
Following consultation with leaseholders, landlords and industry groups, the government’s changes include a duty for landlords to provide an annual report to leaseholders, giving a clear insight into the health and condition of their building and plans for major works.
The reforms will also introduce a new service charge demand form, setting out detailed information about service charge payments and what they will cover.
Where legal disputes arise, such as over service charges, new rules will enable leaseholders to apply to recover the costs of this process.
Landlords will also need to provide certain building information on request, such as fire safety information and invoices for maintenance works, going back up to six years and with clear timeframes for responses.
Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said:“As we bring the feudal leasehold system to an end and move towards a commonhold future, existing leaseholders will not be left behind.
“We are acting to enable more existing leaseholders to take control of their buildings and more easily convert to commonhold as and when they judge the time is right for them and we are strengthening protections for existing leaseholders in the here and now by driving up service charge transparency and rebalancing legal costs so that leaseholders are empowered to challenge unreasonable charges.”
Two further public consultations launched yesterday (15 July) on valuation rates in regulations and the process costs of disputes with landlords to leaseholders.
Meanwhile, the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published in January 2026 proposes to ban leasehold for new flats and a £250 cap on ground rent.
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