At the eleventh hour, and despite previously declaring that it was the final extension, the UK Government has today announced that the current restrictions on landlords being able to forfeit commercial leases for non-payment of rent (which protection was due to expire on 30 June 2021) has now been extended until 25 March 2022. Read more

Introduction The 2021 Queen’s Speech signalled the start of the UK Government’s anticipated plans to change the system of leasehold residential ownership: “Laws to modernise the planning system, so that more homes can be built, will be brought forward, along with measures to end the practice of ground rents for new leasehold properties.” On 13 … Read more

On 21 April, a new permitted development (PD) right came into force enabling the owners of most town centre premises to change from Use Class E (commercial, business and service) to residential use, with only limited consent required from the local planning authority. The new PD right, Class MA, will be exercisable from 1 August … Read more

The property industry will by now be very familiar with the unprecedented raft of protective measures introduced by the Government in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which suspended (and continue to suspend) a landlord’s ability to pursue remedies for the recovery of arrears (but also other covenant breaches). The practical effect of these measures is … Read more

One limb of the government’s strategy to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 is to target privately rented non-domestic properties and to bring the ratings of these properties up to an EPC B by 2030. A 2019 consultation identified that the main challenges to hitting this target centred on compliance and enforcement … Read more

The real estate sector is at the centre of the disruption caused by measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic. Its impact will be profound and its effects will magnify as life returns to normal and the market takes steps towards recovery. In our latest guide “Forearmed: A real estate disputes guide to likely trends in … Read more

Since March 2020, when the Government passed an unprecedented raft of protective measures to restrict a landlord’s ability (in both the commercial and residential sectors) to pursue remedies for the recovery of arrears (but also other covenant breaches), the practical effect has meant that landlords have not been generally permitted to seek to take back … Read more

On 7 January 2021, the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, confirmed long awaited proposals banning leasehold ground rents in England. This announcement follows the Law Commission’s recommendations last year on residential leasehold reform (see our blog post here) and is expected to benefit up to 4.5 million leaseholders, including retirement properties. Under these changes, leaseholders of … Read more