2 December 2024
On 21 November 2024 Matthew Pennycook the Minister of State for Housing and Planning released a written statement relating to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and the government’s further planned reforms of residential leasehold.
Government proposes the following:
- January 2025 – remove the two-year ownership requirement to qualify for a lease extension for a flat and for buying the freehold of a leasehold house.
- Spring 2025 – expanding access to Right to Manage (RTM). This means more leaseholders in mixed-use buildings being able to take over management from their freeholders and in most cases leaseholders pursuing RTM will no longer have to pay their freeholder’s costs.
- “Very shortly” – a consultation to take place on the ban on receiving building insurance remuneration such as commissions for landlords.
- During 2025 – further consultations on service charges and legal costs and on valuation rates used to calculate the cost of enfranchisement premiums.
A draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill is intended to be published in the second half of 2025 and will include the banning of ground rent and forfeiture.
The focus of that bill is to reinvigorate commonhold and a White Paper on reforming commonhold will be published in early 2025.
There will also be consultations in 2025 on
- The best approach to banning leasehold flats and the conversion of existing flats to commonhold.
- Reforms to the section 20 major works process and the regulation of managing agents.
The Minister stated:
It is important that landlords, agents and other key actors in the sector are aware of their responsibilities. As such, we will continue to work closely with delivery partners and stakeholders as we implement the Act and look to further reform. We also look forward to working closely with the Welsh Government to bring about these much-needed reforms across England and Wales.
The Leasehold Advisory Service will have a crucial role to play in that regard and we will set out further detail in due course about how we believe it can most effectively do so.
The Leasehold Advisory Service welcomes these government commitments and the clarity this provides for consumers on the intended timelines. We will support this process and play our part in assisting government and consumers as the reforms go ahead.
