Leasehold Reform

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LaFRA) represents a significant shift in property ownership laws in England and Wales, aiming to enhance the rights of residential leaseholders, this being flat and house owners.

While it received Royal Assent on 24^th May 2024 only a few provisions were brought into effect then, and it wasn’t until the end of January that the first change relating to enfranchisement rights came into effect. This was the removal of the requirement to have owned your flat or house for two years before you could claim an extended lease or the freehold to your house.

Now a number of provisions of the LaFRA relating to the Right to Manage (RTM) have been brought

The End of Upward-Only Rent Reviews?

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Commons on 10 July 2025, contains an unexpected ban on upward-only rent review clauses in new commercial leases. The Government has stated that the policy behind this ban is supporting smaller businesses who are struggling to keep up with open market rent reviews that only allow rent to rise, not fall.

The measure has generated concern among landlords and investors, particularly given the surprising lack of prior consultation on such a major reform in a sector that has historically operated with minimal statutory intervention. For now, the Bill remains in its early parliamentary stages and is highly susceptible to changes following lobbying, with its Second Reading due in September.

This article sets out the scope of the proposed ban and its implications for the commercial rental sector if passed as it currently stands.

Enacting the remaining Law Commission recommendations relating to the Right to Manage

As we have discussed in our previous articles, it was announced in the King’s Speech that the Government’s legislative programme would include draft legislation on leasehold and commonhold reform: the “Draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill.”

This implied that the Government might leave the previous Conservative Government’s legislation, The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, on the shelf and perhaps implement a wider set of reforms consolidating the existing law following the recommendations made by the Law Commission.