Overview
- Housing minister Matthew Pennycook said it is highly likely the planned ban on selling new leasehold flats will not be switched on in this Parliament.
- He signalled that key measures such as the £250 annual ground rent cap could begin later than first promised because the 260‑clause bill is too complex to rush.
- Pennycook cited legal limits, risks to the mortgage market and the task of converting millions of property titles at the Land Registry as reasons for a slower start.
- Freeholders lost an initial High Court challenge to the reforms but won the right to appeal, keeping a live legal dispute over the package.
- Leaseholder groups warn delays are piling costs onto owners, with one London flat’s ground rent set to jump to £1,500 in 2029, even as some developers start planning commonhold blocks.