Update on the implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

By Howard Byers

Associate Solicitor

19 August 2026

Article Blog

When the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA) was passed into law there was a flurry of excitement from residential tenants, since the government promised that it would be easier and cheaper for tenants to extend their leases or buy the freehold reversion off their landlord (a process known as ‘enfranchisement’).

But tenants have been left disappointed that many of the LFRA’s provisions didn’t take immediate effect, since they require ‘secondary legislation’ to come into force.

And the Labour government also confirmed that they want to make some amendments to the LFRA as part of their ambitious ‘Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill’, which includes a plan to cap all residential ‘ground rent’ at £250 per annum.

But tenants will be pleased to hear that the government is pushing ahead with more of the LFRA’s reforms, including:

1. giving qualifying tenants the right to 990-year lease extension at a peppercorn ground rent;
2. establishing a new ‘Standard Valuation Method’ which will make it cheaper for tenants to enfranchise; and
3. removing the requirement for tenants to pay all the landlord’s costs where the tenants initiate the process of enfranchisement.

The government have announced two consolations – One to establish the ‘deferment and capitalisation rates’ for their Standard Valuation Method, and another to recommend what specific costs landlords should still be entitled to recover from tenants in an enfranchisement claim.

Once the consultations end we hope to receive more details from the government about when these LFRA reforms will go into effect, and which reforms will be tied into the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. We don’t expect these reforms to be implemented until mid-2027 at the earliest. So in the meantime residential tenants will need to be patient.

If you are a tenant looking to extend your lease or acquire the freehold to your building, or if you are a Landlord on the receiving end of a request to extend a lease or acquire the freehold, Taylor Walton have a dedicated lease extension and enfranchisement team within our Commercial Property Department with experienced solicitors that will be able to help you with what is a complex area of law. To make contact with one of the team please send us your details via our online form.

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