Renters rights may be grabbing the headlines this month, but leasehold reform is rarely off the news agenda, and rightly so: the system has been criticised for opacity, unfairness and cost. Yet after the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LAFRA 2024)—hurried through in the last Parliament—and with a new Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill on the horizon, the sector finds itself in limbo.
Leaseholders were promised clarity, simplicity and savings. More than a year later, too little of the Act has been implemented, secondary legislation has been delayed, and crucial test cases are stalled in the courts. Meanwhile, professionals are advising clients through these uncertain times, leaseholders are unsure whether to act now or wait, and the market has been affected. In the unanimous view of professionals, further reform must not be made without genuine consultation and collaboration with those who deal with leasehold every day.
A year of uncertainty
LAFRA 2024 was billed as a watershed moment, ‘making it cheaper and easier’—as the last government
