Leasehold reform has gathered pace in the last few months including the publication of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. We reviewed, in broad terms, the government's proposals here.
As the government has pointed out, ensuring the success of such significant reforms cannot be achieved without ensuring the Bill is fit for purpose. This will require the involvement of relevant stakeholders. To this end, there are currently three ways of contributing.
Consultation
Published on 27 January 2026, the government's consultation 'Moving to commonhold: banning leasehold for new flats' focuses on the proposed ban on new leasehold flats and the transition to a modernised commonhold regime.
The consultation, which runs until 24 April 2026, invites responses from industry and consumers on key issues such as scope, proposed exemptions, timing and costs of the proposed changes as well as inviting feedback on the commonhold framework itself.
The consultation process forms a key stage of pre‑legislative scrutiny, giving stakeholders an opportunity to influence the final shape of reforms before the Bill is formally introduced to Parliament.
Call for evidence
In addition, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee has published a call for evidence.
It is inviting organisations to provide views on the draft Bill which will inform its recommendations to government.
The deadline to submit written evidence to the Committee is 11:59pm on Wednesday 25 February 2026.
The terms of reference for the call for evidence can be found here and focuses on whether the Bill meets the government's own policy objectives to “bring the feudal leasehold system to an end" and that commonhold provides a workable alternative for flat ownership by the end of Parliament.
It also considers the proposals for strengthening leaseholder rights, the conversion process for existing blocks and the extent to which the sale of new leasehold flats should be banned.
Finally, the Committee is interested in views around the timeline for implementation and how the draft Bill will interact with the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Individuals
The call for evidence is aimed at organisations, researchers and those wishing to make detailed submissions. There is a separate online survey for homeowners to express their views here. The survey is open until 31 March 2026.
