The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill

The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is currently making its way through Parliament. On this page, you can find out more about the draft legislation, consultations, and key opportunities to get involved.

What is the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill?

The government is currently introducing the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. The Bill proposes to make commonhold the default tenure for privately owned flats and end the leasehold system. To make this happen, the sale of new leasehold flats could be banned from 2029, and a new process introduced so existing blocks of flats can convert to commonhold.

This draft legislation follows the Commonhold White Paper published last year, which made considerations and commitments to implement most of the Law Commission’s recommendations which were published in 2020.

As the Bill makes its passage through Parliament, both the government and Parliament are undertaking a series of consultations and stakeholder engagement sessions throughout 2026. We’ll be updating this page as more information on these becomes available.

Consultations

We’ll update this page as new consultations are published.

Moving to commonhold: banning leasehold for new flats

This consultation proposes introducing a ban on the use of leaseholds for new flats. The government intends commonhold to become the default tenure for new home ownership flats.

Under the proposals, this will apply to purpose-built new developments, newly converted or redeveloped flats, purpose-built rental blocks being sold for homeownership and other residential buildings where there are no existing registered long residential leases. The ban will not apply to newly completed developments built exclusively for rent, such as Build to Rent or social rent blocks, while they are used only for that purpose.

However, there will be implications and some exemptions which will apply to the social housing sector. For shared ownership homes, they will be permitted leases which will mean shared owners living in a commonhold block will have a combination of commonhold rights and leasehold protections.

The move to commonhold could come into force for the sale of new flats from 2029. The NHF will be submitting a full response on behalf of the sector that will be shaped by member input, the consultation closes on.

For more information on the consultation and an insight into the key issues and questions for housing associations, please download our presentation below.

Download our presentation

Join our working group

We are inviting members with practical expertise in leasehold management and development to join a new working group.

This will be a small, strategic group who will work collaboratively with government officials, provide detailed feedback on the draft Bill, and consider the practical implications of proposed changes.

The group will meet from April or May 2026 through to the autumn, with opportunities for direct engagement with policymakers and influence over the final shape of the legislation. If you would like to get involved, please email Sue Ramsden at sue.ramsden@housing.org.uk.

Come to our Affordable Homes Conference

Discuss and explore leasehold reform with other social housing providers at our conference in June. Here, we’ll be running a session on “Making commonhold work: leasehold reform and the role of housing associations”.

This session will explore the implications of the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, what the shared ownership exception means for scheme viability and customer appeal and housing association roles within commonhold structures, including governance and building safety responsibilities.

Who to speak to

Adam Gravely, Policy Officer

adam.gravely@housing.org.uk