The proposed move from leasehold to commonhold is one of the most significant changes to residential property ownership in England and Wales in decades.
While Scotland operates under its own well-established system of shared ownership and management, developments in leasehold reform are being closely watched across the wider UK property sector.
Our colleagues at The FirstPort Group recently convened a roundtable of senior representatives from more than twelve leading residential developers and housing associations to explore how these reforms will work in practice. Several important themes emerged.
Education and expectations: Commonhold places collective responsibility for governance, maintenance and long-term management firmly with flat owners. Ensuring residents fully understand these obligations will be critical to the success of the new model.
Building safety accountability: Clear governance structures will be essential to ensure safety duties are well defined as commonhold associations assume management responsibilities, particularly in larger or more complex developments.
Complex and mixed-use developments: Current proposals may not yet fully reflect the realities of modern developments, which often combine multiple buildings, shared infrastructure, commercial premises and mixed tenure types.
Social housing and shared ownership: How voting rights and governance operate within commonhold associations will need careful design to protect both resident participation and the interests of housing providers.
Market transition: Whether commonhold is introduced gradually or on a single date will have implications for buyer behaviour and industry readiness. Striking the right balance between flexibility and certainty will be important.
The goals driving these reforms — greater transparency, stronger resident involvement and fairer estate management arrangements — are ones the property sector broadly shares. Achieving them will depend on legislation that reflects how residential developments actually operate on the ground.
