Leasehold reform is the biggest change to flat ownership in a generation. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 became law in May 2024, and in 2026 parts of it are already in force while others are still waiting. Here is what has actually changed, what has not, and what it means for your building.
What is the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024?
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is the main piece of legislation shifting power from freeholders back to leaseholders. It received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024, just before the general election. Parts of it came into force straight away. The rest needs secondary legislation from government to kick in, which is why the Act reads like a to-do list as much as a done deal.
The goal is simple. Make it cheaper and easier for leaseholders to extend their lease, buy their freehold, or take over management. Force more transparency around service charges. Scale back some of the advantages freeholders have enjoyed for decades. That is the direction of travel. The speed of it is a different question.
What does it change for leaseholders?
The headline changes are genuine wins if you hold a long lease on a flat.
Longer lease extensions. You can extend your lease by 990 years at a peppercorn ground rent. The old default was 90 years on top of your unexpired term with ground rent peppered in. Not anymore.
No two-year wait. You used to have to own your lease for two years before you could extend it or buy the freehold. That rule is gone. New buyers can act straight away.
Fairer costs on extensions and enfranchisement. The Act caps the professional fees leaseholders have to pay freeholders. They can no longer load up the bill with their own legal and valuation costs in most cases.
Standardised service charge information. Leaseholders will be entitled to a standard-format service charge statement and an annual report. No more reading between the lines of a badly formatted PDF.
Easier challenges. Leaseholders will not have to pay a freeholder's legal costs when challenging a service charge in most cases. That was a genuine deterrent to holding managing agents to account.
Some of these rules are active now. Others depend on commencement regulations still to come. If you are planning a lease extension, check which apply on the date you serve notice.
What does it mean for RTM companies and self-managing blocks?
Right to manage got a quiet but important upgrade.
Before the Act, your building only qualified for right to manage if less than 25% of its floor area was commercial. Plenty of mixed-use buildings fell just over that line and were locked out. The Act raises that threshold to 50%. If you live above a shop, a cafe, or offices, you might now qualify.
The Act also stops freeholders charging leaseholders for their own legal costs during the RTM process. I went through RTM personally on a small block in Brighton. One of the nastier surprises was the bill the freeholder tries to pass back to you. That should no longer be a tool freeholders can use to kill a claim by burying it in costs.
If you were blocked by either of those rules, check your eligibility again. The rest of the process is set out in our what is right to manage guide. Most small blocks can be self-managed with the right system in place, and the complexity is often overstated by people who profit from you staying dependent.
What has not changed yet?
This is the part that gets skipped in most headlines. The Act did not cap ground rent on existing leases. That was a separate consultation. The government said they would act, then they did not. If you are still paying a ground rent that doubles every 25 years, the 2024 Act does not fix it. Lease extension or enfranchisement are still the routes out.
Commonhold is not in the Act. Commonhold is the proposed replacement for leasehold, where residents own the building together without a freeholder. Government wants it to become the default for new flats, but that is separate legislation still being drafted.
Forfeiture reform is not in the Act either. If you fall behind on service charges, a freeholder can still, in theory, take your flat. That is still the case in 2026.
Secondary legislation for large parts of the Act is still pending. The 990-year lease extension right is written into law, but the valuation changes (how much you pay) depend on regulations that have not yet been made. Serve notice today and, in many cases, the old valuation rules still apply.
So what does that mean for you? If you hoped the Act would make everything fairer overnight, it has not. Most fights are still yours to start.
Frequently asked questions
Has leasehold been abolished?
No. Leasehold has not been abolished. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 makes it easier and cheaper to extend your lease or buy your freehold, but millions of flats in the UK remain leasehold. Commonhold, the proposed replacement where residents own the building together, requires separate legislation not yet passed.
Do I still have to pay ground rent?
Probably, if you bought before June 2022. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 banned ground rent on most new long leases but did not cap it on existing ones. The 2024 Act does not fix that either. Extending your lease under the 990-year rules sets ground rent to a peppercorn going forward.
Can I buy my freehold now?
Yes, if enough leaseholders in your block agree. Collective enfranchisement is still the main route. The 2024 Act removes the two-year ownership wait and, once commenced, caps some of the costs you have to pay the freeholder. See our freehold vs leasehold guide for how the two tenures compare.
When will the rest of the Act come into force?
That depends on government. Ministers have said they will implement the remaining provisions, including tougher ground rent rules and the new valuation framework, but timelines have slipped repeatedly. If you are planning a claim in 2026, talk to a specialist about which rules apply on the date you serve notice.
How Freehold.Pro helps
Reform shifts the legal framework, but the day-to-day admin of service charges, compliance, and documents still sits with directors and residents, which is exactly what Freehold.Pro is built for.
Freehold.Pro is block management software built for small residential blocks. Track service charges, store documents, log maintenance, and stay compliant, all in one place. Try it free, no contract required.