The dust has finally settled on Labour’s General Election victory, and the King’s Speech has unveiled the Government’s legislative programme. Maunder Taylor – commercial property investment specialists in North London – look at what this will mean for the property sector.

A Recap of the Previous Legislation

The previous Conservative Government had managed to pass the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill through its initial stages during the so-called ‘wash-up’ sessions in Parliament after the General Election date had been announced. The Bill is set to ban leaseholds for new houses, as well as extending the standard lease term to 990 years. However, a cap on ground rent was omitted.

The Renters’ Reform Bill failed to get on the statute book; the headline piece of legislation in this Bill was the ban on Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions. However, the proposals included several other elements as well.

The Renters’ Rights Bill

One of the key elements of the King’s Speech in the Houses of Parliament was the introduction of a Renters’ Rights Bill. This contains many elements of the Renters’ Reform Bill, and means over the next year the following should become law:

• Awaab’s Law – this is named after two-year-old Awaab Ishak, who died after suffering from exposure to mould at his home in Rochdale, near Manchester, in 2020. He and his family had been living in social housing; the new legislation will introduce strict timeframes within which landlords (in both the social and private rented sector) must respond to hazards in homes that have been reported by tenants.
• The Ban on No-Fault Evictions – this will also form part of the Bill, although it is still unclear when it will actually become law.
• Landlords will retain some rights – the Bill will introduce “new, clear and expanded possession grounds” to allow landlords to reclaim property when necessary.
• An end to rental bidding wars – the right to challenge rent hikes are also promised.
• An extension of the Decent Homes Standard – this already applied to social housing, and the Government wants to extend this into the private rented sector. To meet the threshold the property must be in a reasonable state of repair, have reasonably modern facilities and services, and provide a reasonable degree of ‘thermal comfort’.

The Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill

The Government also intends to bring in more protection for leaseholders via the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill. This will include enacting Law Commission recommendations to bolster leaseholders’ rights to extend their lease and their Right to Manage.

It will also restrict the sale of new leasehold flats by requiring commonhold to be the default tenure (commonhold being the freehold home ownership for flats or other interdependent buildings). With this form of ownership, you and other owners have a say in how your building is managed, including the costs and responsibilities that come with this. The Government will consult on the best way to achieve this and will produce a new comprehensive legal framework setting out how commonhold will work in practice.

Other elements of the Bill include tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rents, and removing the threat of forfeiture so that leaseholders are protected from losing their homes for potentially small unpaid debts (such as any ground rent which is owing).

The Government will also be consulting on the best way to address the injustices of ‘fleecehold’ private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs. This will go further than the new protections included in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

Maunder Taylor – Experts in Commercial Property Investment in North London

As well as helping clients invest in commercial and residential properties, Maunder Taylor – an independent estate agent in Whetstone – offer many other services. These range from residential block management, to lease renewals advice and property valuation surveys in Potters Bar, Totteridge, and other parts of north London and Hertfordshire.

For more information follow this link and fill in the online form, or call us on either 020 8446 0011, or 01707 665 666 (the latter number is for residential block management enquiries only).