A reform package announced in the King's Speech 2026 to (i) reinvigorate commonhold as the default tenure for new flats, (ii) make conversion from leasehold to commonhold workable, (iii) cap ground rents on existing leases, and (iv) finish implementing the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 through secondary legislation. The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill was published on 27 January 2026 for pre-legislative scrutiny by the HCLG Committee.
Approximately 3.8 million leaseholders in England and Wales pay ground rent (≈£600m/year), and 99% of new flats are still sold as leasehold despite commonhold being statutorily available since 2004 with fewer than 20 commonholds created. The Bill therefore touches consumer protection, asset values for freeholders/investors (the LFRA addendum models ≈£4bn transfer over 10 years), retirement housing, and the viability of mixed-use development.
The draft Bill is undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny by the HCLG Committee (oral evidence sessions 3, 10, 17 and 24 March 2026, concluding with the Minister); the RPC has given the draft impact assessment a green rating (1 May 2026); the King's Speech of 13 May 2026 confirmed the Bill will be introduced this session. Parts of LFRA 2024 continue to be commenced by SI in parallel.
The draft Bill published for pre-legislative scrutiny — reinvigorates commonhold, enables conversion, and contains the ground-rent cap and forfeiture/charges reforms.
Government's design proposal for a reinvigorated commonhold model — basis for the draft Bill.
Confirms introduction of the Bill in the 2026 session, naming ground-rent capping and commonhold expansion as headline reforms. Briefing notes give the operative statistics: 3.8m leaseholders with ground-rent obligations, ≈£600m/year, fewer than 20 commonholds in 20 years.
Pennycook's WMS publishing the draft Bill and committing to pre-legislative scrutiny.
Government press release accompanying the November 2024 WMS setting out the staged implementation plan for LFRA 2024 and the new Commonhold/Leasehold Bill.
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage's statement setting out the staged plan for implementing LFRA 2024 and the further reform Bill.
The parent Act passed in the 2024 wash-up; Parts 1-7 cover the ban on new leasehold houses, enfranchisement/extension reform, the 990-year peppercorn extension right, regulation of service/admin/insurance charges and estate management. Now being commenced piecemeal by SI.
Pennycook's statement launching the Part 4 charges/service consultation and rebalancing legal costs.
Commences s.27 LFRA 2024 (removal of the two-year qualifying period for enfranchisement/extension) from 31 Jan 2025.
Commences right-to-manage provisions of LFRA 2024.
First commencement order — brought Building Safety Act amendments (LFRA Part 8, ss.114-116) into force on 31 Oct 2024.
Green rating from the Regulatory Policy Committee on the draft impact assessment.
Independent Library scrutiny of LFRA 2024 implementation status and further reform timetable.
Statistical baseline used in the King's Speech briefing notes and in stakeholder positioning.
Final oral evidence session of the Committee's inquiry; Minister Pennycook examined on draft Bill.
The original IA for the existing-leases ground-rent cap consultation — sets out the five capping options against a Do-Nothing counterfactual.
Five-option consultation on capping existing ground rents (peppercorn, absolute monetary cap, % of property value, freeze, time-limited cap).
Pennycook commits to 'dismantling' the leasehold system within this Parliament.
Plain-English explainer of how commonhold works, accompanying the White Paper.
Technical correction increasing modelled cost/benefit of the 0.1% ground-rent cap from £588m to £1,151m over the 10-year appraisal; EANDCB rises from £159m to £191m (primary only).
Brought the 2022 ground-rent ban on new long leases into force — the precursor to the existing-leases cap now in scope.
Direct policy origin of the ground-rent cap to be delivered by the Bill.
Implementation consultation for the parent Act sitting under this thread; outputs feed into Bill provisions on charges.
Estate management charges regime; relevant to the freehold-estate / 'fleecehold' element of the Bill's scope.
Welsh territorial counterpart of the Part 4 implementation; both Acts apply to England and Wales.
Welsh counterpart of the Part 5 implementation.
My Ministers will bring forward legislation … to reform the leasehold system, including the capping of ground rents [Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill].
Why linked: Confirms the Bill in the 2026 legislative programme — operative political commitment behind this thread.
The aim of this government, by the end of this Parliament, is nothing short of its dismantling and the corresponding emancipation of leaseholders.
Why linked: Pennycook's 29 April 2026 speech — sets the political ambition the Bill must deliver against.
As a government, we made a clear and unambiguous commitment in our manifesto to act where previous governments had failed…
Why linked: Pennycook's 27 January 2026 WMS HCWS1278 frames the draft Bill as delivering the 2024 manifesto.
In response to: Modern leasehold: restricting ground rent for existing leases
Why linked: Consultation on administration charges for freehold estates under Part 5 of 2024 Act, related leaseholder protections.
We want your views on proposals to implement aspects of Part 5 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 in relation to Administration Charges.
Why linked: GOV.UK consultation on enhanced protections for freehold homeowners under Part 5 of 2024 Act, related reform.
Scope of this consultation Topic of this consultation This consultation sets out wide-ranging proposals to give better rights and protection for homeowners living on privately managed estates and to address the considerable injustices they face. This includes the introduction of …
Why linked: Consultation on freehold estate protections implementing Part 5 of 2024 Act, related consumer protection measures.
This consultation seeks view on proposals to implement aspects of Part 5 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and further reforms.
Why linked: Consultation on social housing tenant service charges under 2024 Act, related leaseholder/tenant charges protections.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (‘the Act’) introduces a range of measures to improve home ownership for millions of leaseholders in England and Wales, including increasing the transparency of fixed and variable service charges. On 4 July 2025, …
Why linked: Closed consultation on leaseholder protections over charges and services, directly implementing aspects of leasehold reform in scope.
We want your views on proposals to implement aspects of Part 4 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and future reform on leasehold charges and services.
Why linked: GOV.UK consultation on strengthening leaseholder protections under Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, directly relevant to thread's leaseholder protection measures.
Scope of this consultation Topic of this consultation The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (“the 2024 Act”) introduces a range of reforms to improve home ownership for millions of leaseholders in England and Wales. It includes measures to improve …
Why linked: Executive summary of leaseholder protections consultation, related to thread's leaseholder protection scope.
Executive summary of leaseholder protections consultation, related to thread's leaseholder protection scope.
In response to: Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services: consultation
Why linked: Core consultation document on leaseholder protections over charges and services, implementing Part 4 of the 2024 Act.
Proposals to implement aspects of Part 4 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and future reform on leasehold charges and services.
In response to: Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services: consultation
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The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is the second-phase reform package layered on top of the partly-commenced Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA 2024). The Government published the draft Bill on 27 January 2026 via Pennycook's written ministerial statement HCWS1278 1 and referred it for pre-legislative scrutiny to the HCLG Committee, which ran four oral evidence sessions through February and March 2026, concluding with the Minister on 24 March 2026 2. The Regulatory Policy Committee gave the draft impact assessment a green rating on 1 May 2026 3. The King's Speech 2026 confirmed the Bill will be introduced in this session, with ground-rent capping named as a headline measure 4. The Bill's three core jobs are (i) reinvigorating commonhold (per the March 2025 Commonhold White Paper 5) by re-engineering the 2002 Act's consent-based conversion regime, (ii) imposing a market-wide cap on existing ground rents (consulted on in 2023 6), and (iii) finishing the consumer-protection agenda LFRA 2024 left underspecified — including the forfeiture question.
The thread sits at the interface of a partly-commenced statute and a draft Bill in pre-legislative scrutiny. LFRA 2024 has been commenced in stages: SI 2024/1018 brought building-safety amendments into force on 31 October 2024 1; SI 2025/57 commenced section 27 (removal of the two-year qualifying period for enfranchisement and extension) on 31 January 2025 2; SI 2025/131 commenced right-to-manage provisions 3. The Commencement Nos. 1-3 SIs have NOT yet commenced Part 1 (ban on new leasehold houses), Part 2 valuation reforms in Schedules 4-6, Part 3 (the s.47 right to vary to peppercorn rent), or the Parts 4 and 5 charges regimes — those remain awaiting both prescribed-rates SIs and the outcomes of two MHCLG implementation consultations: the Part 4 'Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services' consultation (closed 4 July 2025) 4 and the Part 5 'Enhanced protections for homeowners on freehold estates' consultation (closed 18 December 2025) 5. Welsh Government has run parallel consultations 6. Against that backdrop the draft Bill of 27 January 2026 7 adds the commonhold-default policy from the March 2025 White Paper 8 and the existing-leases ground-rent cap from the December 2023 consultation IA 9. The April 2025 IA addendum increased the modelled cost of the LFRA 0.1% in-valuation cap from £588m to £1,151m over the 10-year appraisal — a material shift in the evidence base.
In the last three months the Bill has moved from publication into formal scrutiny. The HCLG Committee opened its pre-legislative inquiry on 4 February 2026 1 and held oral evidence sessions on 3 March (former Secretaries of State Angela Rayner and Lord Gove) 2, 10 March 3, 17 March 4 and 24 March 2026 with the Minister 5. Written evidence has come in from RICS (12 March 2026) 6, the ABI (17 February 2026) 7, Grosvenor Property (17 February 2026) 8, ExtraCare (18 March 2026) 9 and Richmond Villages (24 March 2026) 10 — the retirement-housing sector pressing hardest for sector-specific carve-outs. The RPC received the impact assessment on 25 March 2026 and issued its green opinion on 1 May 2026 11. On 29 April 2026 the Housing Minister gave a speech committing the Government to 'the dismantling and corresponding emancipation of leaseholders' by the end of this Parliament 12. The King's Speech 2026 on 13 May confirmed introduction of the Bill, framing it alongside the Social Housing Renewal Bill in a wider housing-security narrative 13.
Three things should drive the analyst's calendar over the next two quarters. First, the HCLG Committee's pre-legislative report (expected Q2 2026 after the 24 March 2026 Minister session 1) will set the political baseline for amendments at introduction. The Committee has tested the draft on at least four contested design questions — retirement-housing treatment (raised by Richmond Villages, ExtraCare and ARCO-linked PQ HL14641 2), forfeiture (HL16161 3 and PQ 23274 4), commonhold-conversion thresholds (the central White Paper question 5) and the under-11-metres building-safety gap (PQ 123091 6). Second, the Government response to the 2023 existing-leases ground-rent consultation must crystallise the chosen option among the five IA scenarios (peppercorn / absolute cap / % of value / freeze / time-limited) 78; the April 2025 IA addendum is the modelling backbone but stops short of naming the chosen design. Third, sequencing of LFRA 2024 secondary legislation matters: the valuation provisions in Schedules 4-6 cannot bite until prescribed rates are set by SI, and Part 1 (ban on new leasehold houses) needs a commencement SI; the November 2024 WMS 9 flagged that DLUHC would consult on valuation rates before laying them. The forfeiture question 3 and the under-11m BSA gap 6 are the two single-issue points most likely to produce hostile Government amendments at Lords stage. Expect introduction in Q3 2026 following the King's Speech 10.
The headline risk is design slippage: the Government has not yet named which of the five 2023 IA options it will adopt for the existing-leases ground-rent cap 1, and the draft Bill itself was not retrieved with full clauses in the corpus — what is in the events list is the announcement, the WMSs and the Committee process, not the operative clauses. Inferred from corpus gap: the absence of the actual Bill text from the readable corpus means specific section/clause analysis is not possible in this build; clause-level workspace work will need to follow Bill introduction. The April 2025 IA addendum significantly revised cost estimates upward — freeholder-side stakeholders (Grosvenor 2, Residential Freehold Association, Church Commissioners ) have signalled litigation risk under A1P1 ECHR. The retirement-housing treatment is genuinely unresolved 345. Forfeiture abolition remains uncommitted 6.
This workspace covers the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill thread — both the draft Bill (Jan 2026) and the ongoing implementation of LFRA 2024 that the Bill is layered on. It does NOT cover: the Renters' Rights / assured tenancy regime (out of scope per thread definition); Right to Buy and council-housing sales; affordable-housing developer obligations and Section 106; building safety beyond the BSA Part 5 amendments delivered through LFRA Part 8. Note also that the Social Housing Renewal Bill — announced alongside this Bill in the King's Speech 2026 — is a separate legislative vehicle and not within scope here.
Bills and Acts this regime substantively depends on. Links go to the bill's own thread on this site (where available) and to bills.parliament.uk.
The substantive vehicle for this thread; published in draft for pre-legislative scrutiny on 27 January 2026 and confirmed for introduction by the King's Speech 2026. Not yet in Parliament's bill catalogue.
The parent statute the draft Bill is layered on — Parts 1-8 deliver the prior reform programme; Bill carries forward unfinished commonhold expansion, existing-leases ground-rent cap and forfeiture questions.
Banned ground rent on new long leases — the 'new leases' precursor that the existing-leases cap in this Bill is intended to complete.
Created commonhold tenure with the 100% consent conversion rule; the draft Bill is designed to disapply that rule to make conversion workable.
The thread sits across two overlapping legal layers that must be read together to make sense of where the Bill changes things.
The first layer is LFRA 2024 itself, which is a finished statute that has only partly been turned on. It contains the substantive reforms — the ban on new leasehold houses (Part 1), the new valuation method with 0.1% ground-rent cap in the premium calculation (Part 2, Schedules 4-6), the s.47 right to vary an existing lease to peppercorn rent (Part 3, Schedule 10), service-charge transparency (Part 4), estate-management charge regulation (Part 5), and Building Safety Act amendments (Part 8). Implementation is staged: Commencement Nos. 1-3 SIs have brought in only building-safety amendments (Oct 2024), the abolition of the two-year qualifying period (Jan 2025), and right-to-manage measures (Feb 2025). The valuation provisions and Parts 1, 3, 4 and 5 await further SIs and, in some cases, prescribed rates from MHCLG.
The second layer is the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill (Jan 2026), which is doing three jobs that LFRA 2024 did not finish: (i) reinvigorating commonhold tenure by re-engineering the 2002 Act's conversion regime (removing the 100% consent rule and the freeholder/lender lock), (ii) capping ground rent on existing leases on a market-wide basis (going beyond LFRA s.47's opt-in variation right), and (iii) tackling forfeiture and remaining charges/transparency gaps. The White Paper of March 2025 is the design document for limb (i); the 2023 consultation IA (with its five options) and the April 2025 IA addendum supply the evidence base for limb (ii).
The two layers interact because the draft Bill effectively absorbs the unfinished business of LFRA 2024 while adding the commonhold-default policy. PQs on the thread show ministers conscious that further LFRA commencement and the Bill must be sequenced — e.g. the valuation rates SI (consulted on under the Nov 2024 WMS) must be in place before Schedules 4-6 commence, and the Bill's charges reforms must avoid duplicating Part 4 provisions still to be switched on.
The regulatory architecture rests on the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for charges and enfranchisement determinations, on Trading Standards as the enforcement authority for the ban on new leasehold houses (LFRA s.17-23), and on the Land Registry for registration of new commonholds and conversions. The RPC has given the draft Bill IA a green rating (May 2026), and the HCLG Committee's pre-legislative report (expected post-March 2026) will set the parliamentary scrutiny baseline before introduction.
A lease meeting LFRA 2024 s.2 conditions: long term (>21 years), demising one house with appurtenant property only, and not preventing residential occupation as a separate dwelling. (LFRA 2024 ss.2-6.)
A long residential lease of a house that falls within one of the Schedule 1 categories (Tribunal-certified or self-certified) — e.g. shared ownership, community-led housing, certain home-finance plans (LFRA 2024 s.7, Sch 1).
Stand-alone right for any long leaseholder to vary the rent term of their lease to a peppercorn, without otherwise extending the lease (Schedule 10).
Within the new statutory valuation method for enfranchisement/extension premiums, ground rent is capped at 0.1% of freehold vacant possession value (Schedule 4 LFRA 2024).
Under the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002, leasehold-to-commonhold conversion requires unanimous leaseholder, freeholder and lender consent.
The landlord's common-law remedy of terminating a lease for breach (including unpaid service charges as low as £350) — preserved in the LFRA 2024 reforms.
HCLG Committee's pre-legislative scrutiny report on the draft Bill — sets the parliamentary baseline before introduction.
Introduction of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill in Parliament following King's Speech 2026 commitment.
Government response to the 'Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services' consultation (closed 4 July 2025) — pressed in PQ 129324.
Government response to the 'Enhanced protections for homeowners on freehold estates' consultation (closed 18 December 2025).
Government decision on existing-leases ground-rent cap design (one of five 2023 IA options) — to be reflected in Bill text.
Further LFRA 2024 commencement regulations — particularly for valuation provisions in Schedules 4-6, and for Part 1 (ban on new leasehold houses).
Commits the Government to 'dismantle' the leasehold system within this Parliament, delivering the manifesto pledge via the draft Bill and continued LFRA 2024 commencement. On forfeiture and ground-rent cap design, his public position is that the Bill 'tackles flaws' in LFRA 2024 (WMS HCWS1278) — specifics deferred to Committee scrutiny.Apr 2026Jan 2026Jul 2025
Tension with Grosvenor Property, Residential Freehold Association, Church Commissioners for England
On LFRA 2024 implementation timing: communicated the staged commencement plan in WMS HCWS244 (21 Nov 2024) and HLWS779 (4 July 2025), confirming further reform would follow in a fresh Bill rather than activating all LFRA 2024 provisions immediately.Nov 2024Jul 2025
On the draft Bill scope: launched a pre-legislative inquiry examining 'how far the draft Bill meets the Government's own policy intentions, including its commitment to ban the sale of new leasehold flats'; sought evidence on retirement housing, forfeiture, and commonhold conversion design.Feb 2026Feb 2026Mar 2026
On the draft Bill IA: awarded a 'green' (fit for purpose) rating to the impact assessment in May 2026 after receiving it in March 2026 — endorsed the cost-benefit methodology including the April 2025 addendum's increased estimates.May 2026Mar 2026
On the draft Bill: engaged with HCLG Committee (12 March 2026 letter) on valuation methodology and commonhold workability — the surveyor profession's view that valuation rates and commonhold management standards need workable detail.Mar 2026
On insurance commissions and remediation cost recovery: engaged with HCLG Committee on the draft Bill (17 Feb 2026 letter) — sectoral concern about how LFRA Part 4 insurance commission limits and BSA Part 5 amendments interact with insurer practice.Feb 2026
On the draft Bill (freeholder side): opposes the scale of asset-value transfer implied by the LFRA 2024 valuation reforms and the further changes proposed in the Bill; engaged with Committee and previously co-signed joint freeholder evidence to the LFRA PBC (Jan 2024).Feb 2026Feb 2026Jan 2024
Tension with Matthew Pennycook, National Leasehold Campaign, Home Owners Rights Network (HorNet)
On retirement leasehold treatment: lobbying for retirement-village leases to be treated differently under the ban on new leasehold houses and ground-rent caps, given the event-fee/management cost model of retirement villages (letter to Chair, 18 March 2026).Mar 2026
On retirement leasehold treatment: aligned with ExtraCare in seeking distinct treatment for retirement-village leases (letter to Chair, 24 March 2026).Apr 2026
On the leasehold system overall: long-standing position in favour of abolition of leasehold and replacement with commonhold; submitted PBC evidence to LFRA 2024 (LFRB66) urging more radical change.Jan 2024
Tension with Grosvenor Property, Church Commissioners for England, Residential Freehold Association
On leasehold reform: leaseholder advocacy position in favour of ground-rent abolition and stronger consumer protections; submitted multiple pieces of LFRA 2024 PBC evidence.Jan 2024Jan 2024
Tension with Grosvenor Property, Residential Freehold Association
On leasehold reform: leaseholder advocacy group pressing for accelerated abolition and ground-rent cap to peppercorn.Jan 2024
On valuation and ground-rent reforms: institutional historic freeholder concerned about asset-value impact of premium reforms; submitted LFRA PBC evidence (LFRB54).Jan 2024
Tension with National Leasehold Campaign, Matthew Pennycook
On commonhold design: author of the 2020 Law Commission commonhold recommendations underpinning the White Paper; technical position is that commonhold can be made workable for modern mixed-use blocks with the package of reforms recommended.Feb 2023
On the draft Bill: gave oral evidence to HCLG Committee (3 March 2026) as a former Secretary of State who initiated the post-2024 reform direction.Mar 2026
On leasehold reform: as the Secretary of State who took LFRA 2024 through Commons, gave evidence to HCLG Committee (3 March 2026) on continuity and unfinished business between LFRA 2024 and the draft Bill.Mar 2026