This week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool has seen more headline news on leasehold and the regulation of the property sector more generally.
Carrying on a theme based on commitments to end ‘excessive’ or unfair charges, the party announced some further news and confirmation of the continued reforming agenda in the leasehold space.
In her speech Angela Rayner referenced examples of Charging a leaseholder £250 to keep a pet, or £400 to change a front door.
In and amongst Mr Burnham’s speech was the news that we can expect the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill before Christmas.
The headline news from conference
Whilst most of this is not exactly a surprise to those who have been following developments in this area, we do now have the following policy commitments:
- A new independent regulator for property agents. Estate agents, letting agents and leasehold managing agents will need a licence to operate and appropriate qualifications. The regulator will set codes of practice covering conduct and complaints handling and will be able to revoke the licences of agents who fall short. No regulator has yet been named, and there is no timetable, licence fee or detail on the qualifications required.
- Caps on permission and administration fees. Landlords and managing agents can currently charge leaseholders, and homeowners on privately managed estates, significant sums for routine requests. The government will legislate so that the Secretary of State can cap these fees. This is expected to be delivered by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill – and a consultation will decide which fees are covered and at what level.
- Stronger powers over empty homes. Councils will be able to take over the management of homes that have been empty for six months rather than two years, and bring them back into use for families in need. The existing powers have barely been used in recent years, so the shorter threshold is unlikely to make a difference on its own unless councils have the resources to use it.
Next steps – where and when?
Consultations will follow. These will add to the mix of the other recent consultations on the LAFRA provisions – the one on valuation rates still being open until 21 October. We can therefore expect further consultation on the levels of administrative charges and thoughts around the level of any cap and how this can be set.
We also know that the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is coming in this session of parliament. Clarification that this will be ‘before Christmas’ is welcome news but does this mean that it will land just before the Christmas recess? Or will we have some autumnal reading? This remains to be seen.
As previously mentioned, we also await the content of the CLRB to see how the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 valuation model will be ‘fixed.’ Even though these ‘fixes’ will make the valuation mechanism workable, that doesn’t mean that the valuation reforms will come into force. Far from it, as the valuation rates need to be set by government – (once the results of the consultation on that have been analysed) and also there is the small matter of the outstanding human rights act challenges to the legislation itself which are not due to be heard until April of next year. Even that may not be enough to finalise the matter as it is more than likely that the case may move further through the superior courts. How long will that take? This is anyone’s guess, but the likelihood must be another 2-3 years.
New measures – regulation and the industry
These new measures add another layer of regulation – perhaps welcome and overdue in the management space, but the industry is going to need time to adapt, and a regulated and better qualified sector may well come at an enhanced cost to the consumer. Perhaps that is no bad thing, as ultimately it is the quality of the professionals making the decisions about building management and capital expenditure that determine the long-term cost to the consumer.
Whilst everyone will expect management fees to be as ‘cheap as chips’ the actual value add is in the proper management of a building as a shared investment on behalf of its stakeholders (the flat owners). With that in mind, spending a bit more on the service provider might actually reduce the longer-term cost of ownership.
Regulation and consumer choice
These measures are all part of a much broader picture and there is a tension between capping and controlling items like consent fees (which may well need attention) and setting or controlling more generally the recoverable costs for enquiries and other matters. These may have a wider market impact, and government needs to be careful not to control these aspects to the level that the work becomes economically unattractive to pursue as this will ultimately reduce consumer choice and competition in the management space.
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 2 October 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.
