After considerable uncertainty around the implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LAFRA), the Government has now confirmed the timetable for a number of the changes to service charge administration, transparency and litigation costs.
The reforms will be introduced in stages between November 2026 and November 2028, giving landlords and managing agents some much-needed clarity on when the new requirements will take effect.
Whilst further regulations are still needed to establish the detailed requirements, there is now a clear timetable for the industry to work towards.
What are the key dates?
6 November 2026 – Enabling powers
The Government will be able to introduce the secondary legislation setting out the detailed requirements, including prescribed formats and timescales. No new operational obligations take effect at this stage.
1 April 2027 – Information rights and litigation costs
Leaseholders will gain new rights to request information relating to service charges and building management. Changes will also be introduced to the 18-month notification requirements for service charge expenditure, including a prescribed notice for costs that have not yet been demanded.
Importantly, landlords will no longer be able to recover litigation costs through service charges or administration charges without the necessary court or tribunal approval. The new rules will not apply to proceedings commenced before this date.
Fixed service charges will also be brought within the statutory framework for the new transparency requirements, although the existing reasonableness provisions will continue to apply to variable service charges.
1 November 2027 – Service charge transparency and reporting
This is likely to bring some of the most significant operational changes for private-sector landlords and managing agents, including:
Standardised service charge demands.
New requirements for annual service charge accounts, including an accountant's report, and separate annual service charge reports.
Restrictions on the recovery of insurance commissions and other insurance-related payments.
Greater transparency around buildings insurance.
A requirement to publish administration charge schedules.
The legislation also introduces consequences for non-compliance, including the ability for leaseholders to seek tribunal orders and financial remedies.
1 November 2028 – Social landlords
The requirements relating to standardised service charge demands, annual accounts and reports, and their associated enforcement provisions will extend to social landlords, including registered providers and local authorities.
However, social landlords should not assume that all the reforms are deferred until 2028. The earlier changes relating to information rights, litigation costs, insurance and administration charges will also apply to them.
What does this mean in practice?
For landlords and managing agents, these changes go beyond updating service charge demands or producing additional reports.
The reforms place greater emphasis on the quality, accuracy and accessibility of the information underpinning service charges.
In our experience, this can be particularly challenging on larger mixed-use developments, where costs are often incurred and administered by different parties, with expenditure passed between estate managers, residential managing agents and landlords before reaching leaseholders.
The new requirements will make it increasingly important to understand not only what is being charged, but how those costs have been allocated, whether they are recoverable and whether the supporting information is readily available.
The obligations relating to information requests will also require closer coordination between landlords, managing agents and superior landlords, particularly where information is held by another party.
Preparing for the changes
At SAY, we see these reforms as an opportunity to improve the quality and transparency of service charge administration.
Although some of the requirements will not take effect until late 2027 or 2028, we would encourage landlords and managing agents to use the time available to review their existing arrangements.
This should include considering whether financial systems can support the new reporting requirements, whether service charge information is sufficiently detailed and accessible, and whether management agreements clearly allocate responsibility for providing information and meeting statutory deadlines.
The detailed secondary legislation is still to follow, so there will undoubtedly be further work to do as the requirements become clearer.