Minister of State for Housing: Keynote Speech – Institute for Government: Wednesday 29 April 2026
Yesterday, Wednesday 29 April, Matthew Pennycook, Minister of State for Housing, gave a Keynote Speech at the Institute for Government, a policy think tank in central London.
The timing of the speech was apposite given the forthcoming local elections on 7 May 2026.
In this keynote address, Mr Pennycook outlined his further commitment to reforming the leasehold system during this parliament, however, of the policy commitment of an outright ban of the ‘feudal’ leasehold system he later stated that [he thought] “it’s highly likely that we don’t switch on the ban in this parliament.”
Mr Pennycook was at pains to point out that steps to end leasehold as a form of land tenure for residential property could not simply be brought about instantly, but something that would need to be phased in over time.
He stated
“Those advocating for such an approach cannot answer how it would be lawful, how the impact on the mortgage market would be managed, how it would even be feasible for the land registry to delete millions of leasehold and freehold titles and replace them with commonhold ones overnight.”
One of the stated ambitions of the reforms will be to set various different ‘sunset’ dates by the end of the term of this parliament so that that leasehold will be phased out eventually and replaced with commonhold as the default land tenure for flats.
This is an ambitious programme and the government clearly recognises that. A key challenge will be making sure that commonhold is fit for purpose and ready to roll out as the alternative to leasehold. Clearly no ban on leasehold flats can be enacted unless and until commonhold has been set up as a fully working system.
In addition, Pennycook also indicated that the government plans to bring forward another leasehold bill during the currency of this parliament.
This repeats a pledge that he made at a recent APPG meeting.
These announcements and restatements of existing policy do not reveal anything new about the existing programme of leasehold reform. However, given what was said at the keynote speech, I now anticipate that we might see something about leasehold reform in the King’s speech on 13 May. If (as stated) the government’s intention is to implement the remaining Law Commission recommendations, (of which there are a great number) this would mean a fairly large piece of legislation.
I would therefore query whether there is sufficient time to do this during the remaining life of this parliament, however, I expect we could see the seeds of this being sown.
One surprising element revealed yesterday was a Pennycook’s indication that that parts of the Leasehold Reform Act 2024 Act may well have to be repealed in due course once it is replaced with a larger and more thorough piece of legislation. No time was spent blaming the previous administration for the rushed 2024 Act; its consequences are already clear in the challenges now emerging around implementation.
There was also a clear indication that enabling legislation will follow for the necessary secondary legislation (around 20 statutory instruments in total) that will be needed to effect the provisions of the 2024 Act. These include the provisions around service charge accounting, insurance commission and costs shifting in service charge litigation.
The Minister again mentioned the known flaws in the 2024 legislation, and we are yet to see details of how government plans to correct these. This simply reinforces the comment that I made in my submissions to the Select Committee that we should see the drafting of these proposed changes now so that proper scrutiny can be given to these alongside the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill (CLRB) before this is introduced to the House of Commons for its first reading.
The Freeholders’ Appeal
Last week, we heard that that a group of freeholders has been successful in its application to appeal the High Court ruling from last year. This is no great surprise, but it will have implications. Interestingly, in his speech, Matthew Pennycook did state that no amount of litigation would thwart his plans for reform.
The group of six large freeholders launched a legal challenge last year against the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (LAFRA), claiming that the measures included in the Act breached their property rights under the European Convention on Human Rights. The landowners claimed the reforms would result in significant financial losses and constitute a form of compulsory purchase. Separately, the government has estimated its policy could cost landlords approximately £4 billion.
The High Court dismissed the case last October, but the freeholders had the right to appeal which they took, and the Court of Appeal has subsequently granted permission for the freeholders to appeal on all grounds.
Not an unexpected result
It was always extremely likely that the ruling would be appealed, not least because freeholders have so much to lose. Leasehold campaigners have not been happy about this, but it was perhaps almost inevitable that permission to appeal would be granted. We all know that the nature and extent of this legislation was always going to be open to challenge and that the legal grounds for doing so will need to be fully exhausted. The secured a very extensive judgement in the High Court in October indicating the court’s view that reforming the law generally and shifting the balance from freeholders to leaseholders (including the significant value shifts that LAFRA entails) was in the court’s view a policy decision that government was entitled to take.
The likely Impact on the timetable for LAFRA implementation
Clearly we are going to see a delay in the implementation of LAFRA whilst these challenges are ongoing. The government will be reluctant in the extreme to look to enact the more significant parts of this legislation in particular around value and making it ‘cheaper and easier’ for leaseholders until there is a definitive outcome in these appeals.
Other elements of leasehold reform, such as the current consultation regarding the ban on leasehold flats, will continue in the meantime. The government’s own consultation on that closed last week. The Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook has also confirmed that the consultation on valuation rates on enfranchisement premiums would be published ‘in the coming months’. We await that consultation and doubtless government will also be looking to deliver more and better news in this space.
In addition, Matthew Pennycook said yesterday in questions after his keynote address that he fully expected there to be a challenge to CLRB in the same way that we have seen the in relation to the provisions of LAFRA. He reiterated the government’s intention to fight these tooth and nail.
How long will the delay be?
The appeal is likely to take months, and this initial appeal is not the only avenue left for the freeholders to exploit. There could be a subsequent appeal to the UK’s supreme court, and following that an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.
What else can we expect?
The debate around leasehold has almost reached the stage at which it may have an impact on the marketability of leasehold flats. Something that surely must be an unintended consequence, particularly as a vibrant housing market is key to a developed economy.
There are other changes afoot too, with the backdrop of the Renters’ Rights Act coming into force on 1 May. A recent study by Pegasus Insights reported that 73% of landlords believe the Act will negatively impact their letting activity, with 71% stating they plan to increase rents to absorb new costs as a result of the Act. Combined with the uncertainty over LAFRA, this has the potential to create some further uncertainty in the market, albeit that with that uncertainty comes opportunity.
With that in mind, having the right advice at hand is key and as ever it will be a case of ‘watch this space.’
Mark Chick
29 April 2026
Mark Chick is the Joint Head of our expert Landlord & Tenant team.
If you have a query concerning leasehold property, then please contact the experts at Bishop & Sewell’s Landlord & Tenant team by emailing leasehold@bishopandsewell.co.uk or call on 020 7631 4141.
The above is accurate as at 29 April 2026.
The information above may be subject to change. The content of this note should not be considered legal advice and each matter should be considered on a case-by-case basis.
