On 18 December 2025, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) launched a consultation on proposed legislation on enhancing protections for homeowners on privately managed estates in England and Wales. Estate managers will be expected to review and adapt their practices in anticipation of these reforms.

Background

This consultation builds on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LFRA) that came into force in May 2024, and the government’s consultation in July 2025 on strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services (see our July 2025 edition of the Real Estate Focus). Now, the government turns its attention to an outstanding strand of the LFRA’s reforms and wider policy objectives: improving the protection and rights of homeowners who face the “injustice of ‘fleecehold’ private housing estates and unfair maintenance costs”.

Proposed reforms

The consultation is divided into four parts:

• Removing disproportionate enforcement remedies: Rentcharge owners can currently take possession of, or grant a lease over, a property without notice if homeowners fail to pay. The government intends to repeal these provisions and require rentcharge owners to serve notice before taking enforcement action.
• Strengthening accountability framework: Draft legislative provisions would introduce:
  • a duty to provide an annual report on estate management;
  • a new standardised form for estate management charge demands;
  • an 18-month notice period for future estate management charge demands;
  • enhanced rights to obtain information on request;
  • a duty to publish administration charge schedules;
  • mandatory consultation for major works (depending on their cost to individual homeowners and the total value of works); and
  • the appointment of a substitute manager by a tribunal.

The consultation also asks for views on the transition period so that estate managers can adequately prepare for new requirements, and costs aren’t unduly passed onto homeowners.

• Tackling the injustices with ‘fleecehold’: There will be action to improve consumer protection through:
  • increased regulation of managing agents;
  • improved homeowner access to free information, advice and support;
  • greater homeowner control over the management of estates (similar to the Right to Manage regime for leaseholders); and
  • reforms to the home buying and selling process (see an earlier consultation we discussed here).
• Limiting recovery costs for rentcharge arrears: The government proposes that administrative costs should be capped (provisionally at £100) for instructing debt recovery services, and that no fee should be payable for all other instances unless ordered by the court.

Key client takeaways

While specific details of these reforms are subject to change, they signal a shift towards tighter regulations and enhanced duties for estate managers. 

• Restricted recovery of rentcharge arrears: Estate managers will no longer be able to exercise certain remedies without notice when homeowners fail to pay, but can continue to rely on other means — such as a debt recovery service — for which homeowners would be liable to contribute towards administrative costs.
• Higher compliance burden: Estate managers will be required to provide financial and non-financial information to homeowners in the form of annual reports, charge demand forms, administration charge schedules, and notices relating to major works.
• Increased scrutiny of estate management: Homeowners will be empowered to challenge charges and seek redress by applying to a tribunal to appoint a substitute manager.

The consultation closes on 12 March 2026 and you can respond here.