A new cross-party parliamentary report has piled fresh pressure on the Government to speed up leasehold reform.

It criticises delays, weak protections and the continued failure to tackle rising costs and poor management in the sector.

The report from the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee says Labour’s draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is a “significant step” forward – but it warns ministers must now go “further and faster”.

The committee wants the final legislation to be introduced in Autumn 2026.

Strong criticism

There is also strong criticism in the report by MPs of managing agents – including FirstPort – which they claimed had delivered “appalling standards of service without consequence”.

They recommended the creation of an independent regulator with powers to fine firms and remove licences.

There was backing, too, for the Government’s proposed £250 ground rent cap for existing leaseholders, but the committee has urged ministers to introduce it by late 2027.

MPs questioned, however, why leaseholders should face a proposed 40-year transition period before ground rents reduce to zero, suggesting 20 years may represent a fairer balance.

Millions of leaseholders have been waiting for too long for successive governments to tackle the unfair leasehold system.”

Housing Committee Chair Florence Eshalomi MP said: “Millions of leaseholders have been waiting for too long for successive governments to tackle the unfair leasehold system, cap ground rents, and put homeowners in control of the management of their buildings.”

She added that the current system had turned “the homeownership dream into a living nightmare” for many leaseholders.

The report also warned that key Law Commission recommendations needed to make commonhold work properly had been omitted from the draft Bill, risking “making commonhold an unattainable escape for homeowners trapped in the leasehold system”.

You can read the full report here.