Leasehold reform in November 2026: what is in force and what is still to come

What happened

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024, but most of it only takes effect when the government makes commencement regulations. As at 1 November 2026, three groups of changes apply in England and Wales, a larger group is passed but waiting, and a further set of reforms is still a draft bill.

Already in force

• No two-year wait. Since 31 January 2025, you no longer need to have owned your flat for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension or joining a collective freehold purchase.
• Right to manage is easier and cheaper. Since 3 March 2025, buildings with up to 50% non-residential floor space can claim the right to manage (it was 25%), and leaseholders generally no longer pay the landlord’s costs of a claim.
• Buying the freehold is open to buildings with up to 50% non-residential space, also from 3 March 2025.

Passed but not yet in force

• A standard 990-year lease extension at a peppercorn ground rent, the end of marriage value and valuation rates set by government. The government consulted on those rates and on costs in July 2026.
• New service charge rules: a standard demand form, an annual report on the building, standard accounts, a right to ask for information going back six years, advance notice of big bills, and limits on landlords recovering legal costs. The government said in July 2026 that the first of these should start “as soon as possible in 2027”.
• A ban on new leasehold houses, and protections for people paying estate charges.

Proposed, not law

The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, published on 27 January 2026, would cap existing ground rents at £250 a year, end forfeiture of long residential leases, stop new flats being sold leasehold and make it easier to convert to commonhold. It is in draft for scrutiny and may change.

What it means for your building

If your block is already run by its own freehold or right to manage company, most of the money-saving reforms are about how bills, accounts and information are presented. The service charge rules in particular will set out formats you will need to follow once they start. If your building is still run by an outside freeholder, the right to manage changes already in force make taking over management cheaper than it was two years ago.

What to do now

• Do not plan a lease extension or freehold purchase around the new valuation rules until they are in force. Ask a valuer and a solicitor about timing.
• If you are thinking about the right to manage, check the 50% non-residential test and the two-thirds rule for your building. The Leasehold Advisory Service has a step-by-step guide.
• Start keeping your service charge records in a form you could hand over on request: invoices, the budget, the accounts and the reasons for big decisions.

How Freeholdpilot helps

Freeholdpilot keeps the building’s documents, budgets and decisions in one place, so the records the new rules will ask for are already there. We follow each commencement date and will update the demand and accounts templates as the regulations are made.