Leasehold reform has been promised, legislated for, delayed, litigated over and legislated for again. For anyone with a short lease trying to decide what to do, the noise is the problem: the headlines announce changes that are years away from taking effect.
This page sets out plainly what is actually in force today, what is on the statute book but not yet switched on, what is still only a draft Bill, and what that means for the decision in front of you.
The short version: the way lease extension premiums are calculated has not changed. Marriage value still applies below 80 years. Claims continue to run under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 exactly as before.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024. Most of it is still not in force. These are the changes that have actually commenced:
| Change | Status |
|---|---|
| Two-year ownership requirement abolished | In force from 31 January 2025 — a recent purchaser can claim immediately |
| Peppercorn ground rents on new leases | In force since the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, for new leases only |
| Abolition of marriage value | Passed but not in force. No commencement date |
| 990-year lease extensions | Passed but not in force |
| Ground rent capped at 0.1% of value for premium calculations | Passed but not in force |
| Removal of the freeholder’s right to recover costs | Passed but not in force |
| £250 cap on existing ground rents | Not law — a proposal in the draft Bill, and under consultation |
| Commonhold as default tenure | Not law — a proposal in the draft Bill |
Everything in the lower half of that table is what the headlines have been about. None of it changes the cost of a lease extension today.
The Government published the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on 27 January 2026, and confirmed it in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026. It has since been through pre-legislative scrutiny by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.
In July 2026 the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government opened a consultation on whether so-called “quid pro quo” leases — those where a leaseholder is said to have accepted a higher ground rent in exchange for a lower purchase price — should be exempted from the cap. The consultation closes on 27 August 2026.
The Government has said it has not seen convincing evidence that most leases work this way, and any exemption would be narrow, with the burden on the freeholder to prove it. But the significant point for leaseholders is the pattern: the headline cap is not yet law, and an exemption to it is already being carved out.
Reform has been promised since 2019. Understanding why it keeps slipping is the key to judging how long to wait.
The Government has acknowledged flaws in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 that cannot be corrected by regulations. They require fresh primary legislation, which is one reason the valuation provisions have not been commenced.
The new valuation framework depends on capitalisation and deferment rates being prescribed centrally. Those rates do not yet exist. Until they do, nobody — including the Government — can say what a lease extension will cost under the new regime.
A group of major freeholders brought judicial review proceedings arguing that the abolition of marriage value, the ground rent cap and the costs reforms breached their rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The High Court dismissed the claim in October 2025, finding robust justification for each measure. Permission to appeal has since been granted, and the matter is now listed before the Court of Appeal. As at August 2026 that outcome is awaited.
This matters more than it may appear. While the lawfulness of the valuation reforms remains under appeal, the Government is unlikely to commence measures that could expose it to significant liability if the appeal succeeds. The litigation is therefore not a side issue — it is one of the main reasons the timetable keeps moving.
Each element requires consultation and statutory instruments. The ground rent consultation running to August 2026 is one of several still to conclude.
There is no published commencement timetable for the valuation changes in the 2024 Act, and the draft Bill has not yet been introduced to Parliament.
On the Government’s own indications, the new framework may not be in force until the end of the current Parliament — realistically 2028 or 2029. Legislation must also be commenced, or “switched on”, after it passes, which adds further time before any practical benefit reaches leaseholders.
Anyone telling you a date with confidence is guessing. What can be said is that a leaseholder deciding today is deciding about a system that will not change for several years, and that their lease will be several years shorter by the time it does.
This is the question we are asked more than any other, and the answer genuinely depends on your lease rather than on politics.
The premium rises every year you wait. Reform may or may not arrive on the timetable currently indicated, and may or may not leave you better off than acting now. We will tell you which side of that line your lease falls on, and we will say so plainly.
If you would like a figure before deciding, you can run one through the lease extension calculator at extension.lease, our packaged service where the valuation, the negotiation and the legal work are handled together.
Freeholders face the mirror image of the same uncertainty. The abolition of marriage value and the proposed ground rent cap both reduce the value of freehold reversions, and the October 2025 judgment confirmed that those measures are lawful.
For freeholders with claims in progress, or considering disposals, the practical questions are the same as ever: is the claim valid, is the premium properly assessed, has development value been identified, and are your recoverable costs properly evidenced. We act for freeholders as well as leaseholders, subject to conflict checks.
Not in practice. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 provides for its abolition, but that provision is not in force and no commencement date has been set. Marriage value still applies to leases with less than 80 years unexpired.
There is no published timetable for the valuation changes. The Government has indicated the new framework may not take effect until the end of the current Parliament, realistically 2028 or 2029, and legislation must be commenced after it passes before it has practical effect.
It depends on your lease. If your term is comfortably above 90 years with a modest fixed ground rent and you have no plans to sell, waiting may be reasonable. If your lease is near or below 80 years, or you may sell or remortgage, waiting usually costs more than it saves.
Ninety years on top of your existing term, at a peppercorn ground rent. The 990-year term is in the 2024 Act but is not yet in force.
No. It is a proposal in the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, which has not yet been introduced to Parliament. A consultation on exempting certain leases from the cap closes on 27 August 2026.
No. The two-year ownership requirement was abolished on 31 January 2025, so a recent purchaser can serve a notice immediately.
Commonhold is a form of ownership where flat owners own their unit outright and jointly manage the building through a commonhold association. The draft Bill proposes making it the default for new flats and banning new leasehold flats, with a route for existing buildings to convert where at least half of qualifying leaseholders agree.
Not at first instance. In October 2025 the High Court dismissed a judicial review brought by a group of major freeholders who argued the reforms breached their property rights under Article 1 of Protocol 1, finding there was robust justification for the measures. Permission to appeal has since been granted and the matter is now before the Court of Appeal, with the outcome awaited as at August 2026. While that appeal is live, the Government is unlikely to commence the valuation reforms.
Send us the address, the unexpired lease term and the current ground rent, and we will tell you where your lease sits relative to the thresholds that matter — and whether waiting is a reasonable risk or a false economy in your case.
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