The government has pledged to completely overhaul the leasehold system, including the ban on new rental flats, which is the second shot in such reforms since Michael Gove promised an overhaul last year.
The regular white paper also includes a pledge to allow homeowners to place bets on the building from day one to abolish land rents. 
The plan was built on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act of 2024, one of the only laws that passed it at the last moment under a conservative government before the general election was called.
Under this law, the prohibition on leasehold rights on new homes became law, extending the standard lease term to 990. However, the land rent cap has been excluded.
Reactivation
Now, the minister says that ordinary will be “revitalized” and that he has held a default term under the new bill.
They say that the dynamism will make the entire system far more fair and open to abuse by “uncruel, careful freeholders.”
We guarantee that they are homeowners, not third-party landlords who own the building they live in. ”
Matthew Pennycook House (main photo) said: “This government has committed to not only providing immediate relief to renters who are currently struggling, but also doing what is necessary to end the feudal tenancy system, which is exactly what we do.
“By taking critical steps to reinvigorate the norm and bringing a default tenure, ownership of the building you live in and making a bigger statement about how you manage your home and the bills they pay, ensuring it is the homeowner, not the homeowner.”
Industry reaction
Timothy Douglas, Head of Policy and Campaigns for Propertymark
“PropertyMark has been campaigning for changes for a long time, making rental assets cheaper and easier, selling and renting,” he says.
“We know that there are complications and additional costs to extending leases and property that comes with escalating ground rents that we struggle to sell, so we usually provide an opportunity to tackle these issues.
“It's clear that there is a dissatisfaction with the current system, as 42% of Propertymark member agents support abolishing the lease system entirely.”
Ian Fletcher, Policy Director, UK Real Estate Federation
“We are generally widely supportive of the introduction of systems, but there are several areas that governments need to take into consideration.
“First, large-scale mixed developments are complex to manage and maintain, so ordinary workers need access to training. Additionally, investors need to assure that the commercial area or “section” is properly managed,” he says.
“Secondly, there is a clear process to move from leasehold rights in a normal way, which requires alignment between lenders, carriers, insurance companies and agents. This will likely take time and, interim, risks negatively impacting the value of the leasehold home, and will not be useful for housing market owners or liquidity.
“There are also questions about how many people will volunteer to take on the management of the building. This can be stressful and time-consuming, and in reality, some are happy to rely on professional freeholders.”
Scott Goldstein partners with law firm Payne Hicks Beach
“We've never caught up with it. Today's announcement is the latest in a series of initiatives introduced since 2002 to promote normal use. The concern is to make sure the system is ready to deal with it.
“Lenders must be encouraged to give mortgages to buy flats that are normally held. There must be robust financial management to ensure that the common block has the resources needed to manage the properties,” he says.
“Finally, a regular block is always run by property owners, so many of us are involved in property management.
Linz Darlington, Lease Expansion Specialist's Home Hold
“The regular tenure was first introduced in 2002, but never took off. The tenure is similar to the Teneon in Scotland, Australian tier titles, and US condos, including flat owners who own and manage the building together.
“The cornerstone of normal tenure revitalization is to ban rental stocks on flats, which critically affects new build properties, not existing flats.
“Moving to normal is a truly admirable purpose, but we're going to create a 'two-tier' flat system in the UK. New properties under new styles of ownership and control will be preferred by buyers over existing lease properties,” he says.
Mark Chick, director of ALEP and partner of Bishop & Sewell LLP
“The announcement shows the proposed move to amend the ordinary, as previously announced by the government, but there is a lot of work to be done to ensure that the ordinary is “fit for purpose,” he says.
“Today's announcement shows the proposal that once the norms have been introduced, the sale of new leasehold flats will be banned. Of course, such a position will only be possible if all necessary reforms to the liberal system have been made.
“We urge the government to be realistic in managing the public's expectations about when this is, as our estimate is likely to take quite a bit of time.”
Details of lease reform
