In this article, Sejal Johar takes stock of the eleven most significant property litigation developments to be aware of in 2026 (spanning residential and commercial property, building safety, telecoms, insolvency and business rates) and looks ahead to what is still to come.

Whether you are managing a large residential portfolio, advising on commercial leases, or navigating the evolving building safety regime, understanding these changes is essential to managing risk and staying ahead of your obligations.

1. Renters' Rights Act 2025

From 1 May 2026, section 21 "no fault" evictions will be abolished, all assured shorthold tenancies will convert overnight to assured periodic tenancies (a template form for which has been published by the BPF, along with guidance on the Act), landlords will only be able to terminate in reliance on statutory grounds for possession but tenants will be able to terminate on 2 months’ notice (unless a shorter period is agreed), contractual rent reviews will be of no effect – any rent increase must go through a statutory notice process (which could be disputed by a tenant, who can apply to the Tribunal to determine the level of rent) and landlords will only be able to request one month's rent in advance. 

From 1 May 2026, when entering into a new tenancy, landlords will need to provide their tenants with a statement of terms. This requirement also applies to existing written tenancies where landlords will be required to provide an information sheet (The Renters’ Rights Act Information Sheet 2026) to their tenants by 31 May 2026.

In respect of unwritten oral tenancies, landlords will be required to provide a full statement of terms for those tenancies by 31 May 2026. Failure to do so may result in financial penalties. Landlords of numerous residential properties should be looking to try and start this process as soon as possible to ensure that it is carried out by 31 May 2026. 

Phase 2 of the Act is expected in late 2026 onwards and Phase 3 is expected much later. 

2. Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 was intended to introduce a new 990 year lease term (up from an extra 90 years), the abolition of marriage value (currently payable on lease terms below 80 years), capping of ground rents in valuation calculations and the abolition of the landlord’s right to recover the costs of granting the new lease from the leaseholder.  

Whilst the Act received Royal Assent in May 2024, the changes require further consultation and legislation for them to be implemented. 

A group of major landlords have further impeded progress by bringing judicial review proceedings to challenge the changes on human rights grounds in ARC Time Freehold Income Authorised Fund & Ors, R (on the application of) v The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2025], in which the High Court  upheld three significant leasehold reform measures as compatible with property rights under human rights legislation.

Following the High Court’s dismissal of the landlords’ judicial review, at least one claimant has sought permission to appeal, with the Court of Appeal expected to consider the application this year.

3. Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 reform

The Law Commission is expected to publish its second consultation paper on reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 during spring of this year. Having already concluded that the existing security of tenure and contracting out model should be retained, the types of tenancies captured by the Act should remain as they are and short tenancies of 2 years or less should be excluded from the Act’s protection, the focus will now turn to other reforms.

4. Law Commission’s 14th programme of law reform

This reform was announced in September 2025 and involves a review of the law relating to commercial leasehold, specifically:

• Issues with the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995: Namely whether an assignor's guarantor may guarantee a group company assignee's obligations, or provide a sub-guarantee in the context of an intra-group assignment; and 
• Rights of first refusal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987: Namely what constitutes a “relevant disposal” for the purposes of tenants' rights of first refusal. 

The Law Commission has also announced its scoping project around the law relating to dilapidations, service charges and the interaction between environmental frameworks and commercial leasehold law.

The appeal in the case of SGL1 Ltd v FSV Freeholders Ltd, has clarified what constitutes a “building” for the purposes of tenants’ rights of first refusal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. The decision overturned the Long Acre Securities Ltd v Karet [2004] EWHC 442 (Ch) case, with the outcome being that the question is fact-sensitive and that the “functionally integrated built envelope” test applies (instead of the test focussing on shared appurtenant premises, as was the case previously).  

5. Building safety

The Supreme Court has granted partial permission to appeal in the Hippersley Point and Triathlon Homes cases, which will consider respectively whether costs incurred before the BSA 2022 came into force are recoverable through service charge and whether Remediation Contribution Orders can extend to costs incurred before the Act came into force. However, the appeal hearing dates are not yet known.

The Court of Appeal will separately hear Almacantar Centre Point Nominee No. 1 Ltd v De Valk and Others, which will focus on whether cladding remediation under the BSA only applies to ‘relevant defects’ or instead a broader range of buildings and landlord repair works. Similarly, the appeal hearing date is not yet known.

Three further regulatory changes are imminent: evacuation plan regulations for certain residential buildings take effect on 6 April 2026; second staircases become mandatory for new residential buildings over 18 metres from 30 September 2026; and the Building Safety Levy comes into effect on 1 October 2026 for residential buildings with 10 or more dwellings, payable by developers to local authorities. 

6. Commonhold

The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill was published at the end of January 2026. The draft Bill proposes three key changes: 

• Capping ground rents in existing long residential leases at £250 per annum for 40 years before going down to a peppercorn;
• Abolishing forfeiture in residential leases, which will apply to existing leases as well; instead forfeiture will be replaced by a new court-supervised scheme; and 
• Making commonhold the default tenure for new developments of flats.
• The draft Bill has not yet reached Parliament and so may be subject to changes before it is in force.

7. Business rates

From 1 April 2026, a new rating list will take effect reflecting rateable values as at 1 April 2024. This has introduced permanently lower multipliers for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses with rateable values below £500,000, set at 5p below the national multiplier – providing some welcome relief for those sectors. To fund these cuts, the multiplier for all properties with rateable values over £500,000 will increase, a change that will affect the bigger ticket occupiers.

8. Telecoms

Regarding telecommunications, the Upper Tribunal will hear the case of EE Limited and Hutchison 3G UK Limited v The Mayor and Burgesses of the London Borough of Wandsworth (Castlemaine) following a grant of permission to appeal. Whilst the date is not yet known, they will consider points such as the legal basis of occupation after lease expiry, access to Part 4 of the Electronic Communications Code if there is Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 protection, the form of application where two operators seek a joint agreement and points on notice validity.

From April 2026, the current LTA 1954 lease renewal valuation framework will be replaced by provisions mirroring the Electronic Communications Code's "no network" model. Rents will be assessed on the value of the land alone, likely reducing rents payable to landowners. Disputes will be determined by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). 

9. Insolvency

The Supreme Court's forthcoming judgment (date currently unknown) in Waldorf Production UK plc v HMRC and others – the first Part 26A restructuring plan appeal to reach the Supreme Court will clarify the correct approach to "out-of-the-money" creditors and the threshold for sanctioning a cross-class cram-down. The High Court refused to sanction Waldorf's plan on the ground of fairness, which emphasises the importance of engagement with all creditor classes and also that restructuring plans must reflect a balanced and reasoned distribution of value. 

10. Ban on upwards-only rent reviews

The government's proposed ban on upwards-only rent reviews in commercial leases continues its passage through Parliament, with implementation most likely in 2027 or 2028. The ban will apply to open market reviews and reviews linked to inflation or turnover but will not affect stepped or fixed-increase provisions. Crucially, the ban will not generally have retrospective effect, save in relation to superior lease clauses requiring sub-lettings to include upwards-only review provisions, which will be ineffective once the legislation comes into force.

11. Business rates revaluation and section 25 notices 

Under section 37(5) of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954, statutory compensation payable to a tenant where a landlord opposes renewal on "no fault" grounds is calculated by reference to the rateable value at the date the hostile section 25 notice is served. With rateable values set to increase for many properties from April 2026, any hostile section 25 notice served on or after that date could expose a landlord to significantly higher compensation.

Conclusion

As you will see from the above, the property litigation landscape has already seen considerable development in the early part of this year. From emerging case law to legislative reform, the pace of change shows no sign of slowing, and it is clear that further developments are on the horizon which will continue to shape the rights and obligations of property owners, landlords, tenants, and other stakeholders alike. If you would like to discuss how any of these developments affect your property interests, please get in touch with our property litigation team. If you would like to discuss how any of these developments affect your property interests, please get in touch with our property litigation team.