The rules governing who owns and controls résidentiel propriété in 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 loi de 2024 sur la réforme des baux et de la pleine propriété et le projet de loi de 2026 sur la réforme de la copropriété et du bail.
La loi de 2024 sur la réforme des baux et de la pleine propriété : état d'avancement et bataille devant la Cour d'appel
The Leasehold and Pleine propriété 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).
Le contrôle juridictionnel et le recours en appel imminent
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 Appel 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.
Le recours des propriétaires fonciers porte directement sur trois piliers fondamentaux de la loi de 2024 :
- L'abolition de la valeur du mariage : 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 loi prévoit que, lors du calcul de la prime qu'un locataire doit verser pour prolonger son bail ou acquérir la pleine propriété, le montant du loyer foncier pris en compte est plafonné, ce qui réduit le montant final versé au propriétaire foncier.
- Le transfert des frais de justice : 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.
Dispositions en vigueur : quelles sont celles qui sont actuellement applicables ?
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 prolongation du bail or a collective freehold purchase. They hold this statutory right from Day 1 of ownership.
- Le seuil commercial à usage mixte 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.
- Exclusion du statut de locataire protégé : 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 va 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.
Projet de loi de 2026 sur la réforme de la copropriété et du bail emphytéotique
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 ligne directrice claire de la politique exécutive a été encore renforcée par son inclusion explicite dans le discours du Roi..
Les grands axes du projet de loi de 2026 sont les suivants :
Le mandat relatif à la copropriété et l'interdiction de construire de nouveaux appartements
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.
Lors d'une importante mise à jour de la politique gouvernementale présentée dans un discours liminaire prononcé devant l'Institute for Government, le ministre du Logement, Matthew Pennycook, a confirmé que, bien que le gouvernement ait pour objectif d'adopter tous les aspects essentiels du projet de loi d'ici la fin de la législature actuelle, l'interdiction totale des nouveaux appartements en bail emphytéotique ne sera probablement pas mise en place avant 2029. Ce délai laisse aux promoteurs immobiliers et aux prêteurs le temps d'adapter leurs programmes de construction et leurs modèles financiers.
Plafonds des redevances foncières applicables aux baux existants
Afin de remédier aux difficultés rencontrées par des millions de personnes liées par des baux à long terme existants, le projet de loi instaure un plafonnement général du loyer foncier à 250 livres sterling par an.
Selon le projet de texte actuel, ce plafond s'appliquera immédiatement aux baux résidentiels existants. Il est essentiel de noter que le projet de texte contient une clause d'expiration automatique, ce qui signifie qu'au bout d'une période de 40 ans, le plafond sera définitivement ramené à un loyer symbolique (0 £). Le calendrier législatif actuel du gouvernement prévoit la mise en œuvre du plafond initial de 250 £ vers la fin de l'année 2027.
Abaissement du seuil de conversion en copropriété
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.
Le projet de loi de 2026 réduit considérablement cet obstacle en instaurant un simple seuil de majorité de 50%. Si plus de la moitié des locataires éligibles d'un immeuble votent en faveur de la conversion, ils peuvent légalement contraindre les résidents restants et le propriétaire foncier à faire passer l'immeuble sous le régime de la copropriété.
La suppression totale de la confiscation du bail
Under current property law, a freeholder can initiate lease déchéance 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.
Abrogation des pouvoirs des “ fleecehold ” dans les domaines privés
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.
Conclusion : un avenir marqué par les promesses, les retards et une profonde incertitude
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.
Pourtant, malgré tout l'optimisme et les perspectives prometteuses qui entourent ces avancées législatives, la réalité immédiate est marquée par des retards persistants, des calendriers politiques laborieux et une profonde incertitude juridique.
En fin de compte, l'Angleterre et le Pays de Galles s'orientent peut-être vers un avenir sans baux emphytéotiques, mais cette transition s'avère être un marathon plutôt qu'un sprint. Alors que les rouages de Westminster et des tribunaux tournent lentement, l'incertitude règne pour les particuliers et les entreprises, qu'ils soient propriétaires ou locataires.
Avocat spécialisé dans les litiges immobiliers et l'expropriation, Ben Lewis – Contactez-nous
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 ou par téléphone au 0203 947 8892.
Ben Lewis
Avocat associé
