The Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill

The government announced the introduction of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill in January 2026. This Bill proposes several reforms to the current flat ownership system, including:

· A ban on new flats being sold as leaseholds – they would need to be sold as commonhold properties, which the Government is pushing to become the default form of flat ownership; and

· A cap on ground rents at no more than £250 pa, which will be reduced to a peppercorn after a 40-year transitional period has passed.

The Housing, Communities and Local Government (‘HCLG’) Committee has now launched a short public inquiry into the Government’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill (‘the Bill’), which was published for pre-legislative scrutiny on 27 January 2026.

Understanding the Renters (Reform) Bill: An Overview of Likely Changes

Following its Third Reading in the House of Lords on 21 July 2025, only minor drafting amendments were made to the Renters (Reform) Bill (‘the Bill’), signalling the Lords’ broad approval of its substance.

If the Bill is given Royal Assent in its current form — with no last-minute policy reversals when it returns to the Commons on 8 September 2025 — it will mark the most significant overhaul of tenancy law since the Housing Act 1988.

This article outlines the key reforms envisaged by the Bill to help landlords, tenants, and investors prepare for the changes ahead.

Building Safety Act 2022

The Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) came into force on 28 June 2022. It created new financial protections around the cost of remediation of historical safety defects for leaseholders of buildings at or above 11 metres or five storeys with historical safety defects.

While flat owners who benefit from this protection will welcome this unfortunately there are problems around the conveyancing process as it adjusts to the effect of the complex new rules which may adversely affect the sales process and the Government overlooked the effect of the legislation on flat owners extending their leases.