Reforms to hand leaseholders greater rights, protections and control will be brought forward next year alongside plans to bring the leasehold system to an end, the government says.

Housing minister Matthew Pennycook says measures in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act will be implemented “at pace” in the new year to allow more leaseholders to buy their freehold or extend their lease without having to wait two years from the point they purchased their property. 

It will also allow homeowners to take over the management of their building, and ensure they have more transparency of costs and be able to challenge what is regarded as unfair service charges, along with other changes to bolster homeownership.  

The government will also introduce its new draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill in the second half of 2025.

Further reforms will be made to tackle unregulated ground rents.

Some campaigners have accused the new government of dawdling but Downing Street has denied this.

Pennycook says: “Millions of homeowners across the country will remember with fondness the sense of satisfaction, pride and security they felt when purchasing their own home. Yet, for far too many leaseholders, the reality of home ownership has fallen woefully short of the dream.  

“The government is determined to honour the commitments made in our manifesto, and I am pleased today to set out the steps we will take to provide relief to those currently subject to unfair and unreasonable practices and to progress the wider set of reforms necessary to end the feudal leasehold system for good.” 

The government will publish a Commonhold White Paper in the new year, followed by a consultation on the best approach to banning new leasehold flats. 

In January, the government will bring forward more Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act provisions to give leaseholders more rights and security through removing the current ‘two-year-rule’ so leaseholders no longer have to wait two years after the point of purchase before exercising their right to extend their lease or buy their freehold. 

In the Spring, a package of measures will be introduced to expand access and reform the cost rules and voting rights where leaseholders claim the ‘Right to Manage’ meaning more homeowners in mixed-use buildings can take over management from their freeholders – and leaseholders making claims will no longer have to pay their freeholder’s costs in most cases.  

Further consultations will take place next year on making it easier to challenge service charge costs, setting valuation rates used to calculate the cost of enfranchisement premiums, and implementing new consumer protection provisions so those who pay freehold estate charges have more transparency of what they are paying for and the right to challenge at the First Tier Tribunal.