Buying a house with an annexe and Stamp Duty Land Tax
Before you bid for a houses with an annex you need to carefully consider the amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you will have to pay; it is complicated.
Before you bid for a houses with an annex you need to carefully consider the amount of Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) you will have to pay; it is complicated.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 received royal assent in the wash up just prior to the election.
It included some of the changes around the rights of leaseholders of flats and houses to obtain extended leases and the freehold that The Law Commission had recommended, i.e. providing for leases to be extended by 990 rather than 90 years, doing away with the need to have owned for two years to qualify for an extended lease and bringing more buildings within the right to enfranchise or manage by increasing the threshold of non-residential parts from 25% to 50%.
In January 2026 the Government published the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, confirming its intention to cap ground rents in existing residential leases at £250 per annum, with a longer-term objective of reducing those rents to a peppercorn. Another proposal by the Bill is to ban the creation of new leaseholds and instead to make commonhold the default mode of flat ownership.
The Bill has been published in draft form only and is subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, consultation and amendment. It is important for leaseholders, landlords and managing agents to understand the effects of the proposals and the likely timescale for their implementation.