Today’s King’s Speech outlined the government’s legislative plans for the year, announcing 37 bills. They include:
- Small Business Protections (Late Payments) Bill: intended to safeguard small and medium-sized enterprises with powers including maximum payment terms of 60 days.
- Competition Reform Bill: Will make the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) investigations quicker and reduce burdens on businesses.
- Regulating for Growth Bill: Designed to modernise the regulatory system, reduce administrative burdens and ensure regulators actively support economic growth and innovation without compromising essential environmental and safety standards.
- Courts Modernisation Bill: Includes the Government’s plan to confine trial by jury to the most serious cases.
- Police Reform Bill: Abolishes police and crime commissioners and includes other reforms including the use of facial recognition technology.
The bills affecting the property sector are:
- Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill: It will prohibit the use of leasehold for new flats, restrict ground rents to £250 a year and implement a new process for switching to commonhold.
- Remediation Bill: Increases powers for regulators and shuts down loopholes to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings.
Alison Taylor, partner and property practice group leader, B P Collins comments:
“The measures announced in the King’s Speech are likely to have important implications for both developers and homeowners across the Thames Valley. The proposed Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill could lead developers to transition away from the traditional leasehold model for new flats and adapt to a commonhold system instead, whereby the homeowners collectively own the freehold of their building permanently and manage the communal areas, with no third-party landlord or lease expiry. This is likely to alter existing development and ownership structures. For homeowners and buyers, the reforms are intended to provide greater transparency and longer-term control over properties.”
“Meanwhile, the Remediation Bill reinforces the focus on building safety and is expected to increase pressure on developers to address outstanding cladding and remediation issues more quickly. Much will depend on the detail of the legislation, but the direction of travel towards greater accountability and consumer protection is clear.”
For further advice or information on how the proposed reforms may affect you or your business, please contact the team at B P Collins by email at enquiries@bpcollins.co.uk or call 01753 889995.
