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03/06/2026
In a second article this week, Mari Knowles writes for Landlord Today, on the myths and realities of commonhold. Whilst much has been written about whether or not commonhold is the right way to go, it is also important to consider how it works in practice, for those keen to move to commonhold. The full article can be read here.
02/06/2026
Commonhold has taken a hold in recent weeks. This week, Mari Knowles writes about comparisons with leasehold, and, in particular, whether or not it will save commonholders money. The commonhold campaign has always been about autonomy, rather than saving money, but that is not to say that commonhold will not, eventually, be cheaper. Read the full article here.
27/05/2026
The Ministry of Housing has released a new toolkit, designed for those keeping track of the reforms. The toolkit will, we assume, be kept updated as the reforms progress. The toolkit and latest update can be found here.
27/05/2026
The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill has been undergoing rigorous scrutiny by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee since the Spring. Today, the Committee has published their findings. The Committee is broadly supportive of the Bill, but places emphasis on the need to proceed with reforms as soon as possible. The Committee’s findings can be found here.
20/05/2026
Commonhold has been much talked about over the last few years. A common question which has arisen is “will commonhold be cheaper”? Mari Knowles has recently considered the question and written an article for Property Investor News on this point. The full article can be found here.
13/05/2026
The commonhold, leasehold and freehold reforms programme first began in 2006. Ten years later, and it has today been confirmed that there will be another bill on the reforms. This time, it will be the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, the draft version of which we saw introduced in January 2026. It has also confirmed that there will be a further building safety bill relating to remediation, together with a bill on net zero. The King’s Speech press pack sets out more details of all three key reform bills and can be found here.
01/05/2026
Today heralds commencement of the substantive parts of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025. Other than a small number of cases, there will no longer be “no fault” evictions, and tenants will be afforded greater rights and protections. The Government’s guidance on the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 can be found here.
29/04/2026
After what has, generally, been a quiet month for the reforms, we have today heard from Matthew Pennycook MP, Minister for Housing, with an update on said reforms. In the key note speech given today, followed by a Q&A, the Minister confirmed their ambitions to bring forward as many of the proposed commonhold and leasehold reforms as possible. The full speech can be found here.
05/04/2026
Mari chaired a session on commonhold implementation today on behalf of ALEP, following publication of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. The panel included commonhold policy representatives from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Professor Hopkins from University College London and formerly, Law Commissioner responsible for the commonhold paper, and Rob Stevens, head of risk at Nationwide. The debate provoked some interesting thoughts on the complexities of commonhold conversion
02/04/2026
We are really pleased to confirm that Victoria has been promoted to associate solicitor. Victoria works within Team Wales on litigation and transactional matters, specialising in leasehold house purchase work in particular. We look forward to continuing our work with Victoria.
31/03/2026
The HCLG Committee has spent the last 6 weeks completing “pre-legislative scrutiny”, by collecting evidence from stakeholders, including written submissions, a leaseholder survey and oral evidence. The last deadline is today, for completion of the leaseholder survey. The HCLG Committee will now consider all evidence submitted and prepare a report of their findings.
10/03/2026
Mari was invited to give evidence today to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee on commonhold implementation of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. The session was live-streamed on Parliamentary TV. A transcript of the session can be found here.
25/02/2026
Today is deadline day for written submissions to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee’s call for evidence on the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. The call for evidence requests answers to pre-set questions, but also gives the option of free text. CLE has submitted their response, but is unable to publish it currently, due to the terms of evidence submission. If we are able to publish our response in future, we will do so. Separately, there is a leaseholder survey, the deadline of which is 31 March 2026.The link to the Committee's website is here.
09/02/2026
Mari is in the middle of a 6-week conference tour across England and Wales for Professional Conferences. The conference is designed for residential conveyancers seeking to obtain updates on the latest in residential conveyancing. Mari will be speaking on the commonhold, leasehold and freehold reforms, in particular. For more information, please see here.
27/01/2026
Today sees the long-awaited draft commonhold bill published by the Government. The bill contains four parts to it. The first deals with commonhold conversions of existing leasehold buildings and management. The second contains a ban on the sale of leasehold flats going forward. The third contains a ground rent cap on all existing leases to £250.00, irrespective of the lease terms. The final part abolishes forfeiture, the draconian enforcement remedy for breaches of lease. Whilst forfeiture will be abolished, it is being replaced by a new lease enforcement scheme, which will still lead to properties being repossessed, but with the proceeds of sale being returned to the leaseholder. We will be running a series of webinars on this latest development. The draft bill and full press release can be found here.
26/01/2026
Mari is delighted to have been asked back by ALEP, the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners, to speak at their Spring Conference in March. Mari will be speaking with James Fieldsend, barrister at Tanfield Chambers, and Professor Nick Hopkins, former Law Commissioner, on the topic of commonhold conversions. Booking information can be found here.
23/01/2026
The Net Zero Government team yesterday released various Net Zero updates. This includes a response to various consultations on the controversial communal heat networks legislation, the Energy Act 2023. It also included release of the “Warm Homes Plan”, which seeks to ban the sale of gas boilers from 2030 and sets out proposals for their replacement. Implementation of net zero heating and hot water in commonhold and leasehold buildings is going to be complex, and potentially expensive, and policy will need to be carefully considered to make this work. The Warm Homes Plan can be found here. The updates also include responses to proposals to increase the minimum EPC level in rental properties.
19/01/2026
Mari spoke at the commonhold and leasehold reform update on Thursday last week, speaking to delegates about the commonhold reforms. The event was well attended, with thought-provoking questions from delegates about how commonhold will work in practice. For event details and details of future events, please see here.
13/01/2026
We are delighted to start the year with not one, but two, new team members! Syd and Emma joined the team in Wales today, working with Mari and Victoria in particular. Full profiles will follow shortly.
06/01/2026
We are working with ALEP, the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners, this Winter to bring a crash course on commonhold for property professionals. The course will run for four weeks, and look at the commonhold basics, including legal documents, financing the commonhold, managing the commonhold and disputes. Tickets can be booked here.
05/01/2026
We wish all our clients and contacts a Happy New Year! The office is now open again, and back to business as usual. It will no doubt be a busy year for the reforms, with multiple updates from the Government during the last working week of December.
19/12/2025
The draft commonhold bill was promised by the end of 2025, with many eagerly holding out for the bill. Immediately before Parliamentary recess commenced yesterday, the Government formally wrote to the HCLG Committee, to explain that the bill would not now be forthcoming this year, but would follow early in the new year. The HCLG Committee Chair has issued a response to that letter. The letter to the HCLG Committee and the Chair’s response can be found here.
18/12/2025
Following Royal Assent in October, the Government has today published comprehensive guidance on implementation of the Act for landlords and letting agents. The bulk of these changes will mandatorily commence on 01 May 2026, so issuing the guidance early should help landlords and letting agents start preparing for the change. The full guidance can be found here.
18/12/2025
Today saw two consultations launched by the Government in respect of freehold estates. The first consultation sets out details of how the Government intends to implement Part 5 of Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, which concerns improved management and better transparency for those living on an unadopted estate. The second consultation sets out proposals to tackle unadopted estates more widely, and which follows the Competition and Markets Authority’s investigation in 2024. The first consultation can be found here and the second consultation here.
18/12/2025
The Government’s remediation acceleration plan, which sets out how the Government intends to ensure all buildings are remediated promptly, has been updated today with release of vital data on cladding removal costs. This follows an announcement earlier this year that there would likely be a Remediation Bill in 2026 to strengthen the remediation acceleration plan. The update can be found here.
