Commercial Property
Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 Reform of Security of Tenure
On 4 June 2025, the Law Commission published an interim statement following consultation on reforming the right to renew business tenancies under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954. The Law Commission intends to publish the responses received to its first and second consultations.
The 1954 Act currently excludes tenancies of up to six months. The Commission provisionally concluded that this threshold should be increased to two years, and we await the consultation results.
RICS Code on Service Charges in Commercial Property
On 25 June 2025, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) published a new RICS Professional Standard on “service charges in commercial property (second edition)” which became effective from 31 December 2025.
All RICS professional standards are mandatory for RICS members and regulated firms that have chosen to be RICS regulated and work to RICS standards.
Proposed Ban on Upwards-Only Rent Reviews
In July 2025, the government introduced the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill 2024-25 into Parliament. If it becomes law, it will ban upwards-only rent reviews in commercial leases where the higher rent is not known. It will not apply to stepped rent increases and will not apply retrospectively.
Timings for enactment of the Bill are not known, but the Bill is moving towards a Third Reading in Parliament.
Land Registry Contractual Controls Register
In January 2024, the government published a consultation on establishing a freely accessible database of contractual control agreements, including option agreements, pre-emption rights and conditional controls. The database would be available at HM Land Registry. It will be compulsory to register such agreements in order to give transparency to proposed land development and future ownership of land.
Draft regulations were published under Part 11 of the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023. The government has not yet published its response but there have been indications that regulations may come into force in April 2026.
Reform of Business Rates
The Autumn 2025 Budget revealed the figures to be introduced for a new five-tier system effective April 2026. The new multipliers are split as follows (as pence per pound of Rateable Value (RV)):
- small multiplier for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure (RHL) properties with a RV below £51,000: 38.2p
- small multiplier for non-RHL properties with a RV below £51,000: 43.2p
- standard multiplier for RHL properties with RV £51,000-£499,999: 43p
- standard multiplier for non-RHL properties with RV £51,000-£499,999: 48p
- high-value multiplier for all properties with RV £500,000 or more: 50.8p
The Government’s aim is to provide long-term certainty and support to high street occupiers, but market commentary has been mixed, particularly in relation to larger businesses who may find themselves in the ‘top’ tier and face a significant increased business rates.
Residential Reform
Commonhold Reform
The government published a White Paper on commonhold reform in England and Wales in March 2025. It proposed banning new leasehold flats and making commonhold the default tenure by the end of this Parliament. A consultation and draft Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill are expected shortly.
The key proposals for the commonhold model include:
- new flexibilities to enable commonhold to be a practicable form of ownership for larger developments;
- amendments to the rules governing a commonhold association to promote democratic decision making and safeguard commonhold owners; and
- introducing new measures to assist with funding including allowing for commonhold associations to secure loans against common parts or future commonhold contributions.
Renters’ Rights Act 2025
The Renters’ Right Act (“RRA”) 2025 received Royal Assent on 27 October 2025, and it is being brought into force in stages over the next few months.
From May 2026, the RRA 2025 will replace assured shorthold tenancies with assured periodic tenancies and abolish section 21 “no fault” evictions. The RRA 2025 also made certain changes from 27 December 2025, including excluding long leases from the definition of assured tenancy in the Housing Act 1988.
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act (“LFRA”) 2024 received Royal Assent on 24 May 2024. It aims to improve the rights of residential long leaseholders and those living in freehold estates.
A few provisions are in force, but most will be brought into force by regulations on dates to be confirmed. In October 2025, the High Court dismissed a judicial review challenge to the new valuation methods for enfranchisement and lease extensions. We await seeing if there will be a successful appeal of this decision.
Energy Efficiency
The government is considering changes to improve energy efficiency: In February 2025, the government consulted on proposals to raise minimum energy efficiency standards (MEES) so that domestic private rented property must achieve an equivalent of an EPC rating of C. The proposed higher MEES standard would apply to new residential tenancies from 2028 and all tenancies from 2030.
Consultation on Improving Residential Conveyancing Process
The government published a consultation on proposals to improve the conveyancing process for residential property (which closed on 29 December 2025).
