Leasehold reform consultation closes

The consultation on the charges used to work out the cost of extending a lease closed on 23 September 2026, according to Which?¹. Further legislation will be needed after that date to set out how the new calculations will work¹. The consultation follows the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, which was passed in 2024 and applies to England and Wales¹.

The government is still consulting on some of the charges used to calculate lease extension costs under the new system¹. One of the biggest planned changes is the abolition of marriage value, an additional amount leaseholders currently pay when extending a lease with fewer than 80 years remaining, reflecting the increase in the property's value once the lease is extended¹. The reforms are intended to make lease extensions cheaper, but it is not yet clear how much leaseholders could save¹.

In January 2026, the Starmer government published draft legislation to further reform the sector¹. Its measures include capping ground rents at £250 a year, banning leaseholds for most new flats and introducing a new process to make it easier for existing leaseholders to convert to commonhold¹. Under commonhold, each homeowner within a building owns the freehold to their own property, and the common parts are owned and managed by a commonhold association made up of the building's homeowners rather than a third-party management company¹. The earliest the draft bill will become law is 2027, and it is likely to be implemented over a period of time¹.

Key provisions of the 2024 Act included making it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to buy their freehold, extending standard lease terms to 990 years, increasing transparency on service charges and requiring freeholders and managing agents to issue standardised bills, simplifying the process for challenging unreasonable charges at a tribunal, and making it easier and cheaper for leaseholders to take over the management of their building¹. Only some of these measures are currently in force, as most require secondary legislation¹.

The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) has launched a tool to help leaseholders check how long they have left and understand their options¹. Research from LEASE and the Open Data Institute found that 8% of residential leases have between 80 and 90 years remaining¹. For one property searched, the tool estimated that extending the lease would cost between £4,000 and £6,000 with more than 80 years remaining, compared with almost £50,000 once it dropped below 80 years¹. The tool can check the length of a lease on a leasehold flat or house in England or Wales and estimate the current cost of extending a lease for flats with leases of 40 years or more only¹. It determines lease length by searching Land Registry data, and information may not be up to date if a lease was extended recently¹.

"Whether a leaseholder should extend now or wait for the reforms will depend on their lease and individual circumstances. If a lease already has 80 years or less remaining, there may be a benefit in waiting, as the reforms are intended to remove marriage value. However, leaseholders just above the 80-year threshold should seek specialist advice urgently, as there is a risk in waiting until the lease falls below 80 years under the current law."

Richard Hand, senior legal adviser at the Leasehold Advisory Service, quoted by Which?¹

Why it matters for households

Leaseholders in England and Wales are affected by the timing of any extension, because the cost can rise sharply once a lease drops below 80 years¹. The 2024 Act applies to England and Wales¹. In Scotland there is not the same issue with leasehold properties, as very few homes are sold with this type of ownership, and housing is devolved, so leasehold legislation differs in Northern Ireland¹. The freehold vs leasehold distinction determines whether a household owns the building or holds a lease for a fixed term, and shared owners can face separate questions about service charges on 100% of the property.

What happens next

The consultation closed on 23 September 2026, after which further legislation will be needed to set out how the new calculations will work¹. The earliest the draft bill published in January 2026 will become law is 2027, and it is likely to be implemented over a period of time¹.

Sources1 cited