Banish the back to work/school blues with an A-Z of property developments on the radar this term!

The Hazards in Social Housing (Prescribed Requirements) (England) Regulations 2025 (also known as Awaab’s Law) will come into force for the social rented sector on 27 October. From this point, social landlords will have to address all emergency hazards and all damp and mould hazards that present a significant risk of harm to tenants within fixed timeframes. This is the first part of a phased approach to implementation which will expand to apply to a wider range of hazards in 2026 and the full range of hazards (excluding overcrowding) as defined by The Housing Health and Safety Rating System (England) Regulations 2005 by 2027.  Importantly, the Renters’ Rights Bill contains provisions which will extend Awaab’s Law to the private rented sector (PRS). The Government will be consulting on the most fair, proportionate and effective way to do this for both tenants and landlords and further detail is expected in due course.

There are currently over twenty-five pieces of secondary legislation made under the Building Safety Act 2022 and the Government has announced its intention to legislate further. Stakeholders and their advisers will need to remain on their toes to keep abreast of developments however the delay to the implementation of the Building Safety Levy (charged on all new dwellings and purpose-built student accommodation in England which require a building control application) to the Autumn of 2026 will offer a little respite to those trying to keep up to speed. For more on building safety and to keep up to date on this fast moving and complex area of law visit our BSA Hub.

Climate risk reporting was given a shake-up in May when the Law Society published its climate change and property guidance note. The note addresses how climate change may impact the sale of a property and sets out good practice for solicitors in relation to advising on climate change risk on property transactions. Environmental search providers are adapting their suites of reports to respond to consumer demand. This is no doubt an area that will continue to evolve as the effects of climate change and need to decarbonise become key in investment decisions both in the residential and commercial real estate markets.

The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill is currently at Committee stage in the House of Commons. The Bill aims to deliver on the Government’s manifesto commitment to de-centalise power and ignite regional growth by streamlining and enhancing the powers of Mayors as part of the Government’s broader strategy to reform and rebuild local government structures. The proposed abolition of upwards-only rent review clauses in business tenancies has however been the headline grabbing feature of the Bill.

As part of its ongoing consultations on the reform of the EPC and MEES regime, the Government launched a consultation (which closed on 10 September) on proposals to set a minimum MEES for socially rented homes for the first time. The proposal is to set the standard at EPC C or equivalent by 2030 mirroring proposals to raise standards in the PRS, set out within the recently closed consultation on improving the energy performance of privately rented homes (2025 update).  Responses to other MEES/EPC related consultations are awaited and, for the time being, there are no updates to report on the non-domestic MEES position.

The Law Commission is currently consulting on reforms to the “antiquated, obscure, and sometimes inconsistent” law governing land registration and chancel repair liability being the obligation to repair the chancel of a parish church whenever it falls into disrepair. The Law Commission’s aim is to close an historic loophole to ensure that chancel repair liability does not bind purchasers of land unless it is registered at the Land Registry and therefore visible to purchasers. This would avoid the need for purchasers to undertake chancel repair searches and save millions in chancel repair liability indemnity insurance costs. The consultation closes on 15 November however the Law Commission will not be publishing their final recommendations until 2026 and so we can’t expect a silver bullet for conveyancing practice any time soon.

The majority of contract forms in the JCT suite (prior to 2024) are silent on responsibility for site or ground conditions.  The 2024 JCT suite has introduced the discovery of asbestos, contaminated material or unexploded ordnance as both a relevant event and a relevant matter.

If your contract is silent on this issue (as the majority of contracts will be) then the starting point here is that the contractor carries the risk.

However, do always remember that this common law position requires a proper consideration and interpretation of the contract which will include not only your base form of agreement but also any documents incorporated into or forming part of the contract.  Remember to consider the content of those documents that are defined in the JCT suite as Contract Documents.  It may be that one or more of the Contract Documents modifies the allocation of risk in relation to ground conditions and that may in turn impact on the application of the common law position.

If in doubt the parties should consider bespoke amendments to ensure that the allocation of risk for ground conditions is the subject of express agreement.

The Decent Homes Standard sets minimum standards for the condition of social housing to ensure homes are safe, in good repair and have modern facilities. The Renters’ Rights Bill contains provisions to introduce it to the PRS and earlier in the summer the Government launched a consultation proposing a common standard for both social and privately rented housing. The consultation closed on 10^th September however a long lead-in time is planned with implementation not expected until either 2035 or 2037. This is therefore one for the radar but not of concern this academic year.

At the beginning of September, the Government launched a consultation setting out a series of proposals aimed at streamlining the infrastructure planning process for Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects. This new consultation ties in directly with the broader policy aims of the Government’s landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill (see “P” for Planning and Infrastructure Bill) in seeking to remove hurdles to the development of economic and social infrastructure that it considers essential for UK growth. The consultation, which closes on 27^th October, seeks views on how best to implement some of the most significant reforms in the Planning and Infrastructure Bill as well as other key proposals that support the application process for development consent under the Planning Act 2008.

In June we reported on the hotly anticipated Court of Appeal judgements which confirmed that aspects of the Building Safety Act 2022 have the potential to be applied retrospectively (see Hippersley Point and Triathlon Homes: Court of Appeal draws retrospective line in the sand regarding recovery of costs under the BSA ). At the time of writing, applications for permission to appeal in both cases have been lodged (but not yet granted). You can keep abreast of developments here.

Briefings about potential tax changes in the upcoming budget have caused speculation and uncertainty particularly in the real estate sector. There has been a lot of commentary around the potential impact of the mooted changes including abolishing stamp duty, introducing a national insurance tax for landlords, capital gains tax changes, replacing council tax and the potential introduction of a national property tax. Speculation is rife but only time will tell as to what the Chancellor has in store.

As we discussed earlier this year in Commonhold: A new era for homeownership?, the Government published the Commonhold White Paper in March  accompanied by a press release confirming the intention to bring the “feudal leasehold system to an end” and make commonhold the default tenure by the end of this Parliament. We expect the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill to be published for “pre legislative scrutiny to help get the details right” towards the end of this year. A central focus of the Bill will be reinvigorating commonhold through the introduction of a comprehensive new legal framework, but it will also include a range of other vital reforms to the leasehold system. We will be tracking developments and updating our hub.

We first wrote about Martyn’s Law back in 2023 in Martyn’s Law: What operators need to know about the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill . The Bill, aimed at improving safety at certain events and premises, received Royal Assent in April of this year establishing a tiered approach to safety which is linked to the number of individuals it is reasonable to expect may be present at the same time at premises and events with enhanced duty requirements apply for larger premises. The requirements to put in place the requisite public protection measures to reduce the risk of harm in the event of an act of terrorism are not however set to come into effect until around April 2027. Further government guidance is expected in due course to assist those in scope to understand the requirements set out in the legislation.

In June, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors published a second edition of its Service Charge Code which applies to all RICS members and RICS regulated firms. The new edition will come into effect on 31 December 2025 and is intended to “promote best practice, uniformity, fairness and transparency in the management and administration of service charges in commercial property”.

The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022 known as ECTEA established the Register of Overseas Entities in August 2022, to enhance transparency regarding beneficial ownership of overseas entities holding land in the UK. Whereas previously the register could only be annotated where in the view of the registrar the information (or lack of information) was confusing or misleading, The Register of Overseas Entities (Annotation) Regulations 2025 (which came into force on 30 June) allow the registrar to annotate the register in specific circumstances to ensure that the register’s information remains accurate and reliable for its users. These specific circumstances include where the registrar has reason to believe that an overseas entity has either dissolved, been wound up or has otherwise ceased to exist.

The Government’s flagship legislation to “get Britain building again” will introduce significant changes to legislation aimed at reforming the planning system to facilitate the delivery of 1.5 million new homes. With the draft legislation currently at Committee stage in the House of Lords, the timeframe for implementation remains uncertain. For further commentary on the potential impact of this legislation once enacted see here.

In August, the Land Registry released an unexpected missive confirming that it would be accepting Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES). The Land Registry acknowledge that adopting this technology will bring greater security and ease for anyone involved in land transactions and is inviting all those customers interested in using the technology to contact them. However, the relevant Land Registry practice guide has not been updated and roll out in fact appears more akin to an extension of the established pilot scheme (involving approved conveyancers and a limited number of kinds of registrable dispositions). Wide-spread adoption therefore remains some way off with more information expected from the Land Registry in the coming months.

will be one of the first “sports fixtures” for the new school year with the ping pong match between House of Commons and House of Lords to finalise the Bill having commenced on 8 September.  Once the Bill received Royal Assent many of the legislative provisions will require further consultation and secondary legislation to be commenced and while Government has indicated that enactment is an absolute priority they are also conscious that a measured approach is required to achieve a smooth transition to what will be a significant re-shaping of the private rental market.

Following its first consultation on the future of security of tenure for business tenants under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 in November last year, the Law Commission issued an interim statement in June setting out its provisional conclusions. The statement confirmed that the existing contracting-out model is the right model striking the best balance between landlords and tenants and that a change in model would be likely to cause unwarranted disruption to the commercial leasehold market. Notably the Law Commission provisionally concluded that the duration of a tenancy that can benefit from security of tenure should be increased, and they will be consulting on increasing the threshold from 6 months to 2 years. The Law Commission’s second consultation paper will focus on the technical detail of the reforms. For further commentary see here.

The Court of Appeal have recently handed down judgment in the case of On Tower UK Limited v British Telecommunications PLC, an important case revolving around the steps that a site provider must follow to terminate a code agreement. You can read our full article on the case here. The second telecoms case to hit the headlines over summer was another Court of Appeal decision in the case of AP Wireless II (UK) Ltd v On Tower UK Ltd. This case turned on whether a property agreement granted for a minimum term (with an indefinite rolling term thereafter) created a valid lease or a contractual licence. The Court determined that an agreement granted for a minimum term of 10 years was void as a lease because such a grant was for a term uncertain and could therefore only be construed as a contractual licence.  This is of significant importance for Electronic Communications Code agreements where landlord-friendly 1954 Act renewal rights may apply to a lease whereas the code renewal framework, more favourable to an operator, applies to a licence.

The ban of upwards only rent review clauses in all new commercial leases (and leases that undergo statutory renewal) was the major talking point of The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, currently at Committee stage in the House of Commons.  The Bill will be subject to amendment and refinement as it makes its way through Parliament over the coming months. In the meantime see Could this really be the end of the upward only rent review? for further commentary.

Identity verification forms a central part of the UK corporate transparency reforms. Over the summer, Companies House announced that mandatory identity verification under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 will be phased in from 18 November 2025. From this date: new directors will need to verify their identity to incorporate, or be appointed to, a company; existing directors will need to confirm they have verified their identity when they file the company’s next annual confirmation statement; and existing people with significant control (PSC) will need to verify their identity by a specific day within 12 months of the commencement date. With over 7 million individuals affected and compliance timeframes varying depending on the roles, the advice from Companies House and the compliance industry is to start preparing for these changes now by identifying who needs to be verified, ensuring the right documents are in place and selecting the most appropriate verification route.

The recent Technology and Construction Court decision in the case of Jaevee Homes v Fincham [2025] EWHC 942 confirmed that a WhatsApp exchange between a developer and demolition contractor constituted a concluded contract. This serves as a poignant reminder that informal communications, in whatever form they may take, can give rise to binding legal obligations and that organisations need to mitigate such risks by ensuring that adequate internal policies and procedures (including staff training) are in place around the use and application of digital communications in the workplace.

The Law Commission has recently published its 14^th Programme of Law Reform. In addition to the current project on the right to renew business tenancies, the Law Commission has identified other issues relating to commercial leasing requiring review. This includes a project to consider the Landlord and Tenant (Covenants) Act 1995 which is “causing significant problems in practice for commercial leasehold transactions, creating barriers for businesses, preventing commercially sound transactions and imposing needless bureaucracy”. The Law Commission has wanted to do this project for some time, however, have struggled to gain traction with the Government up to this point. Further steps and timeframes will be confirmed in due course but maybe Xmas has indeed come early for those who grapple with the issues that the 1995 causes in practice.

On 1 August 2025, the Arbitration Act 2025 came into force introducing a number of amendments to the Arbitration Act 1996 designed to modernise and streamline the arbitration process. Whilst aimed at commercial arbitration more broadly, the reforms will have an impact on agricultural tenancies where arbitration remains a key mechanism for resolving a wide range of disputes. Whilst the new Act is more of a fine tuning than an overhaul, it has brought some significant changes including expanding arbitral tribunals’ powers of summary dismissal and will make the arbitration process quicker and more streamlined.

The UK is committed to reaching net zero by 2050. The most recent strategy document is the 2023 Carbon Budget Delivery Plan published under the Conservative government. Further funding for measures to decarbonise the economy and meet net zero were announced in the current government’s spending review in June and a revised plan setting out policies and commitments to meet carbon budgets and the UK’s net zero targets are set to be contained in a refreshed Carbon Budget Delivery and Growth Plan which is expected to be published later this year. We will watch with interest to see what implications this revised plan may have for the real estate sector.