Leaseholder service charge and legal cost protections in England start in April 2027
Five sets of regulations laid on 12 November put the detailed rules in place. Information rights and the legal costs changes start on 1 April 2027, standard demand forms and annual reports follow in November 2027, and councils and housing associations have until November 2028.
From 1 April 2027, leaseholders in England will be able to demand information about their service charges, including for previous years, and a landlord will need a good reason to refuse. From the same date, a landlord who wants to recover its legal costs from leaseholders after a dispute will need permission from a court or tribunal first.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government says five sets of regulations putting these changes into effect are being laid in Parliament on Thursday 12 November, subject to approval. They apply to existing leases as well as new ones, and the government puts the number of leaseholders affected at more than three million.
Legal costs
The government says landlords can currently charge leaseholders for legal costs whether the landlord wins or loses, which deters people from challenging a bill. Under the new rules, those costs cannot be passed on through the service charge, or as an administration charge, without a court or tribunal order. Leaseholders also gain a right to claim their own legal costs from the landlord.
Proceedings issued before 1 April 2027 stay under the current rules, according to commencement regulations signed on 25 October. A sixth set of regulations, giving more detail on the legal costs changes, is due before the end of 2026.
The timetable
1 April 2027. The right to request service charge and management information, the legal costs protections, a new notice of future service charge demands, and fixed service charges brought within the statutory service charge rules.
1 November 2027. All leaseholders, including those of councils and housing associations, get information about the building insurance they pay towards, with stronger protection against excessive fees for arranging and managing it, and clear information on the administration charges they could face. Private landlords must also start using a standard service charge demand form and provide yearly accounts and an annual report.
1 November 2028. Councils and housing associations move to the same standard demands, accounts and annual reports. The government gave them an extra 12 months because of the complexity of their accounting systems.
What has not changed yet
The ground rent cap of £250 for existing leases, a revised commonhold system for new flats and the replacement of forfeiture are all in the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, which the government expects to introduce before Christmas. Voltacle's guide to how ground rent and service charges work sets out the rules leaseholders have today.
