The last government made significant changes to leasehold including banning new leasehold houses through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. The current government has indicated it will go even further through the...more
The announcement of the upcoming Renters’ Rights Bill has left many landlords keen to bring assured shorthold tenancies (ASTs) to an end before the changes become law. Reports have emerged of some landlords, perhaps in too...more
The previous government put forward a huge agenda for leasehold reform. While they managed to pass the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 before parliament was dissolved – which introduced a ban on new leasehold houses...more
As Rishi Sunak was deluged with rain announcing a general election on 4 July, those in the property world were wondering what this means for the flood of leasehold reform going through parliament. Here’s what you need to...more
The Freehold and Leasehold Reform Bill passed its second reading in Parliament on 11 December, and was described by Michael Gove – the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Levelling-Up - as the “effective...more
The Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in Gill v Lees News Ltd brought new clarity on when a landlord can successfully oppose the grant of a new lease under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 on the “tenant fault” grounds - in...more
In our last update in May, when the Renters Reform Bill was finally placed before parliament, we flagged the proposed changes - perhaps most significantly, the abolition of “no fault” or Section 21 evictions. While Bill...more
In our previous Engage post in April, we set out the government’s proposals for the Renters Reform Bill. The draft Bill was finally placed before Parliament on 17 May. In this update, we track which of the original proposals...more
In Annington Properties Limited and others v Secretary of State for Defence, the UK High Court has robustly endorsed the rights of public body tenants to acquire a superior interest in property through leasehold...more
In June 2022, the Government published a White Paper proposing sweeping changes to the private rented sector - affecting around 4.4 million homes and 2.3 million landlords. The Renters Reform Bill is due to be introduced in...more
As part of its levelling-up agenda, on 16 June 2022 the government published its long awaited white paper on the reform of the private rented sector. Proposed changes include banning so-called no-fault evictions whilst...more
The UK government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak has included various steps intended to relieve pressure on residential property tenants, whose livelihoods and income might have been seriously impacted by the current...more
The government has confirmed it will bring forward emergency legislation to protect residential tenants from eviction. Following the Budget which announced mortgage “holidays” for those who own their homes, the government has...more
What does enfranchisement actually mean and what’s wrong with the current regime? Enfranchisement is the process by which people who own property on a long lease may extend the lease, or buy the freehold. ...more
Since the introduction of assured shorthold tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1988, tenancies of 12 months have become the norm.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has just launched a...more
The BBC reported this week that fewer than half of the local authorities in England have been called upon to prevent so-called “revenge evictions” since new laws came into force on 1 October 2015....more