The rules governing who owns and controls residencial propiedad en England and Wales are undergoing their biggest shake-up in a generation. For decades, buying a flat meant entering the complex world of leasehold, a system that often left buyers dealing with rising ground rents, expensive lease extensions, and disputes with freeholders.
A dual-track legal overhaul aims to permanently shift power away from traditional landlords and give it back to homeowners. This transition is being driven by two major pieces of legislation, la Ley de Reforma del Arrendamiento y la Propiedad de 2024 y el proyecto de ley de reforma de la propiedad horizontal y el arrendamiento de 2026.
La Ley de Reforma del Arrendamiento y la Propiedad de 2024: situación actual y el litigio ante el Tribunal de Apelación
The Leasehold and Se vende Reform Act 2024 became law in May 2024, but its implementation has faced a complex rollout. Freeholders immediately mounted significant legal resistance, arguing that the legislation’s radical structural changes amounted to an unlawful deprivation of property rights under Article 1 of the First Protocol (A1P1) to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
El recurso de casación y el recurso de apelación inminente
In October 2025, the High Court delivered a comprehensive 167-page judgment dismissing the freeholders’ judicial review claims. The court ruled that the government acted within its discretionary powers to correct a systemic, anti-competitive imbalance in the housing market.
However, the legal battle is far from over. On 1 April 2026, the Court of Recurso formally granted permission to appeal to five major institutional freeholder groups. This second round of high-stakes litigation is scheduled to be heard in late 2026 or early 2027.
El recurso presentado por los propietarios se centra directamente en tres pilares fundamentales de la Ley de 2024:
- La abolición del valor del matrimonio: The 2024 Act eliminates “marriage value”, the hypothetical profit generated when a lease with fewer than 80 years remaining is extended. Under the old system, this value was split equally between the leaseholder and freeholder. Freeholders argue that removing this share constitutes an uncompensated confiscation of asset value.
- The Ground Rent Valuation Cap: La ley establece que, a la hora de calcular la prima que debe pagar el arrendatario para prorrogar su contrato de arrendamiento o adquirir la propiedad, se aplica un límite máximo a la renta del terreno que se tiene en cuenta, lo que reduce el importe final que recibe el propietario.
- El traspaso de las costas judiciales: Historically, leaseholders were contractually bound to pay the freeholder’s professional, valuation, and legal fees during an enfranchisement or extension claim. The 2024 Act reverses this, dictating that each party must bear their own costs.
Disposiciones vigentes: ¿Qué es lo que se puede exigir actualmente?
Unless the Court of Appeal issues a formal injunction to stay the legislation, which is highly unlikely, the provisions of the 2024 Act that have already been triggered by commencement orders remain fully active law:
- The Day-One Right to Enfranchise: The historical “two-year rule” has been repealed. Leaseholders no longer need to own a residential leasehold property for 24 months before issuing a statutory claim for a prórroga del arrendamiento or a collective freehold purchase. They hold this statutory right from Day 1 of ownership.
- El umbral comercial de uso mixto 50%: Buildings featuring mixed-use layouts (such as flats built over retail units or commercial offices) can now access collective enfranchisement and the Right to Manage (RTM) if the non-residential space makes up up to 50% of the building’s total internal area. This is a major increase from the previous, restrictive 25% statutory limit.
- Exclusión de la condición de arrendamiento garantizado: Activated via a targeted patch in December 2025, long residential leases (granted for a term exceeding 21 years) are completely excluded from being classified as assured tenancies under the Housing Act 1988. This eliminates a historical risk where a freeholder could use fast-track summary possession courts to evict a leaseholder whose ground rent exceeded £250 per year (or £1,000 in London).
- The 990-Year Extension Standard: Once the valuation mechanisms are fully active, leaseholders will secure the legal right to extend their lease terms by a standard of 990 years at a peppercorn (£nil) ground rent, replacing the outdated 90-year statutory extension framework. Note, until the valuation mechanisms are active, the current extension period remains 90 years.
Proyecto de Ley de Reforma de la Propiedad Común y el Arrendamiento de 2026
While the 2024 Act modifies the existing leasehold system, the government’s next phase aims to phase it out entirely. On 27 January 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) published the highly anticipated Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill.
The draft Bill quickly progressed to formal pre-legislative scrutiny, culminating in an exhaustive review report published by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee on 27 May 2026. La clara línea de actuación del Gobierno se consolidó aún más al incluirse explícitamente en el discurso del Rey..
Los pilares fundamentales del proyecto de ley de 2026 incluyen:
El mandato sobre la propiedad horizontal y la prohibición de construir nuevos pisos
The headline measure of the Bill is an absolute ban on the creation or assignment of new leasehold flats. Instead, the legislation positions commonhold as the default legal tenure for all new multi-unit residential developments.
Under a commonhold structure, which mirrors international condominium frameworks, individual flat buyers own the absolute freehold of their specific unit. The shared common parts of the estate are owned and managed by a Commonhold Association, a corporate entity owned 100% collectively by the unit holders. There is no external reversionary landlord, no lease term countdown, and no ground rent.
En una importante actualización de la política, presentada en un discurso inaugural ante el Institute for Government, el ministro de Vivienda, Matthew Pennycook, confirmó que, si bien el Gobierno tiene como objetivo aprobar todos los aspectos fundamentales del proyecto de ley antes de que finalice la actual legislatura, es probable que la prohibición absoluta de los nuevos pisos en régimen de arrendamiento no se introduzca hasta 2029. Este margen de tiempo permite a los promotores inmobiliarios y a las entidades crediticias adaptar sus proyectos de construcción y sus modelos financieros.
Límites máximos de la renta del suelo en los contratos de arrendamiento vigentes
Para abordar los problemas a los que se enfrentan millones de personas atrapadas en contratos de arrendamiento a largo plazo ya existentes, el proyecto de ley introduce un límite general al canon de arrendamiento de 250 libras al año.
Según el borrador actual, este límite máximo se aplicará de forma inmediata a los contratos de arrendamiento residencial ya existentes. Es fundamental destacar que el borrador contiene una cláusula de caducidad automática, lo que significa que, tras un periodo de 40 años, el límite máximo se reducirá de forma permanente a un alquiler simbólico (0 £). El calendario legislativo actual del Gobierno prevé que el límite inicial de 250 libras entre en vigor a finales de 2027.
Reducción del umbral para la conversión a la propiedad horizontal
Historically, converting an existing leasehold block of flats into a commonhold structure required the 100% unanimous consent of every single leaseholder and chargeholder in the building, a threshold that made conversions practically impossible in most cases.
El proyecto de ley de 2026 reduce esta barrera de forma significativa al introducir un sencillo umbral de mayoría de votos de 50%. Si más de la mitad de los arrendatarios con derecho a voto de un bloque votan a favor de la conversión, pueden obligar legalmente al resto de residentes y al propietario a transformar el edificio en una estructura de propiedad común.
La abolición total de la pérdida del derecho de arrendamiento
Under current property law, a freeholder can initiate lease decomiso proceedings against a residential leaseholder for debts as low as £350, potentially seizing an asset worth hundreds of thousands of pounds over a minor service charge dispute.
The 2026 Bill completely abolishes the right of forfeiture for long residential leases. It replaces this power with a proportionate, court-backed debt collection and lease enforcement regime, protecting homeowners from losing their equity over disputed fees.
Derogación de las facultades de “fleecehold” en los patrimonios privados
The draft Bill targets exploitative practices on privately managed freehold housing developments, often referred to as “fleecehold”. The legislation plans to completely repeal sections 121 and 122 of the Law of Property Act 1925. This change strips private estate management companies of their statutory rights to enter a homeowner’s property or grant an enforcement lease over a house due to unpaid or disputed estate rentcharges.
Conclusión: Un horizonte marcado por la esperanza, los retrasos y una profunda incertidumbre
The dual progression of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill 2026 represents a historic attempt to completely reshape homeownership in England and Wales. On paper, these sweeping reforms promise a much fairer system, giving leaseholders day-one extension rights, reducing the amount payable for extending leases, shielding homeowners from aggressive property seizure, and drawing a clear roadmap toward a commonhold-first property market.
Sin embargo, a pesar de todo el optimismo y las expectativas que rodean a estos hitos legislativos, la realidad inmediata se caracteriza por retrasos persistentes, plazos políticos agotadores y una profunda incertidumbre jurídica.
En última instancia, puede que Inglaterra y Gales se estén encaminando hacia un futuro sin arrendamientos, pero la transición está resultando ser más un maratón que un sprint. Mientras las ruedas de Westminster y de los tribunales giran lentamente, persiste la incertidumbre para particulares y empresas a ambos lados del panorama inmobiliario.
Abogado especializado en litigios inmobiliarios y en la adquisición de derechos de propiedad, Ben Lewis – Ponte en contacto con nosotros
Ben Lewis is an associate solicitor in RFB’s litigation department. For enquiries on this topic, please contact Ben Lewis via email at B.Lewis@rfblegal.co.uk o por teléfono en el 0203 947 8892.
Ben Lewis
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