Update on the Leasehold & Freehold Reform Act 2024

To reform some of these provisions, the Leaseholder Protections consultation ran from July to September 2025 to seek views on how best to implement the 2024 Act measures. On 15th July 2026, the Government responded to some of the key outcomes on LFRA measures, set out below.

Many of these measures will require Statutory Instruments, which will be laid as soon as Parliamentary time allows – expected to be later in 2026. Leaseholders, including shared owners, and tenants of Private Registered Providers (PRPs) will start to see changes during 2027.

The consultation also sought views on further leasehold reform. This included reforms to the major works regime, introducing mandatory reserve funds, and introducing mandatory qualifications for managing agents. The Government has committed to providing a separate response on these proposals in due course. Details of some other aspects that need further work can be found below.

Consultation Response Summary

Below, we have summarised the published responses to the relevant parts of the consultation.

Note: many of these measures are already set out in legislation in the LFRA, so the consultation exercise sought views about the precise detail of how these measures will be implemented in practice:

• New Service Charge Annual Report: This will largely reflect what was proposed in the consultation, but with an additional requirement for a declaration of relevant relationships between the landlord and any third party, such as a managing agent, and with less information required relating to major works and litigation in response to concerns about the additional cost of obtaining this information. There will be a bespoke version of the annual report for leaseholders who pay a fixed service charge and event fee.
• New Service Charge Demand Form with Budget: A budget must accompany the new service charge demand form, and Government will provide a list of high-level headings, but landlords who already provide more detail than this can continue to do so. The interim and reconciliation demand forms will mirror the format of the initial demand form, but a budget will not be required to accompany these forms. There will be a 12-month transition period.
• Right to Request Information: This right will be applied retrospectively, going back six years for information on a prescribed list. However, the Government’s response says that landlords will be required to take ‘reasonable steps’ to obtain relevant information but will not be expected to produce material that is not held or cannot reasonably be obtained, provided this is clearly explained to leaseholders. There will also be a ‘disclose and redact’ approach to commercially sensitive information, and a narrowly framed provision for vexatious requests, supported by indicative factors rather than a rigid definition.

o  The framework will also recognise that, in some cases, historic information may no longer be held and cannot reasonably be obtained, including because records were disposed of in accordance with pre-existing retention practices. In such cases, the landlord will be required to explain clearly why the information cannot be provided. Supporting guidance will be developed to support the use of these exemptions.

o  The government will adopt a structured approach to response timeframes, including a sliding scale, that links response times to the age and scope of the information requested.

o  The framework will provide a ‘defined inspection period’ of up to three months from the date of request. Where documents are available electronically, landlords will not be required to create additional physical copies solely for in-person inspection.

• Administration Charge Schedule: The format of this schedule will be prescribed, but landlords will be allowed to populate the schedule to reflect the charges that apply in their specific circumstances. The template will be simplified in response to feedback from consultation responses. Where costs cannot be fixed in advance, e.g. third-party costs, landlords will be required to set out a clear method for determining them, including factors that may affect the amount payable.
• Information about Insurance: The Government will introduce a set of requirements to improve transparency of building insurance information by extending and building upon existing FCA disclosure rules. It is considering requirements for landlords and managing agents to disclose relevant connections and remuneration arrangements with brokers and insurers. The plan is to give 12 months’ notice of these rules coming into effect, in order to make adjustments to current systems.
  
• New Standardised Service Charge Accounts: Landlords will be required to provide a balance sheet, an income and expenditure account with explanatory notes, and sinking funds where applicable. Government has decided not to have a separate and detailed dedicated collection deficit statement as originally proposed, but rather an aggregate amount of unpaid service charges will be included as part of the accounts. The Department concluded that the additional costs of having a balance sheet for each schedule would be excessive, so have decided against this.
• Transitional period for the above new service charge accounts regime: Government plans to give private landlords 12 months’ notice of the measures, and social landlords 24 months’ notice.   
• Litigation Costs: Where litigation costs are recovered through the service charge, landlords will, in all cases whether defended, undefended or admitted, be required to obtain court or tribunal approval. Government intends to introduce a threshold-based exemption for all cases (both undefended and admitted), so that lower value litigation costs can be recovered without approval – and will be consulting with stakeholders about what this level should be. There will be a suspension mechanism for resident-led buildings. There will be a three-month period between the making of the litigation costs regulations and their coming into force.

Still to come: Areas of further work

The scope of the Leaseholder Protections consultation was much broader and there are other specific areas where work still to be done. The Property Institute (TPI) will continue to engage with Government on these measures and will provide updates as they progress, including:

If you have any questions or comments on any of the above, please contact: [email protected]