The ban on new leasehold (a property ownership structure where you own the property but not the land beneath it) properties in England will not come into force before the next general election, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook confirmed at the end of April 2026. The announcement gives investors in existing leasehold stock a firmer read on the timeline than they have had at any point since Labour took office.
What Pennycook Actually Said
Pennycook told Parliament that primary legislation - the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill - will pass before the next election. A commencement date for the ban on new leasehold flats and houses will also be named within this parliament. But the date itself will land after the election.
His precise framing, as reported by Property Industry Eye and the Mortgage Finance Gazette: "I'm not saying there's no chance, but I think it's highly likely that we don't switch on the ban in this parliament."
He also stressed that abolishing leasehold and replacing it with commonhold (a system where flat owners collectively own the building and the land it sits on) involves "really quite complex trade-offs." Those include the risk of disrupting housing supply and exposing the new system to legal challenge.
Pennycook's stated goal is that by the end of this parliament, the leasehold system will be "effectively dismantled" and leaseholders "emancipated." He said the commonhold legal framework will be fixed, and developers may begin bringing forward commonhold developments out of choice before any ban formally begins.
This applies to England and Wales. Scotland operates a separate property law system and abolished feudal tenure in 2004.
What the Delay Changes for Investors
Labour's 2024 manifesto pledged to end the feudal leasehold system. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is already law, but most of its provisions are not yet commenced (activated). The new Bill goes further - making commonhold the default tenure for new flats and banning new leasehold houses.
The uncertainty around when exactly those provisions would bite has been one reason leasehold flats, particularly in city centres, trade at a discount to comparable freehold stock. Ground rent (an annual fee paid to the freeholder, the person or company that owns the land) and service charge (costs for maintaining communal areas such as lifts, gardens and hallways) liabilities have added to that caution.
What has changed is the floor. Investors now know with reasonable certainty that any commencement of the ban sits beyond mid-2029 at the earliest. That is not bad news for someone buying today.
The Angle on Existing Stock
City centre flats - particularly in areas where leasehold stock is dominant and commonhold conversions are not yet commercially viable - are the specific area to watch. The discount embedded in their pricing reflects years of accumulated uncertainty. That uncertainty has not been removed, but it has been pushed out.
The Commonhold Scrutiny Committee report is expected at the end of May 2026, with the government committing to respond before the summer recess (Pennycook, April 2026; Leasehold Knowledge Partnership). Watch for any signal on how the commencement date will be structured - whether it gives developers a transition period or applies immediately on the named date. That detail will set the real floor for valuation.
Ground rent reform is a separate track under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and may progress on its own timeline, independent of the leasehold ban commencement date. That is a positive for existing leaseholders regardless of when the ban kicks in.
