# Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024: what is in force for managing agents on 1 October 2026 > Which parts of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 have commenced, which service charge changes still wait for regulations, and what to change now. - Page to cite: https://aeolookup.com/block-management/leasehold-and-freehold-reform-act-2024-what-is-in-force-managing-agents/ - Publisher: AEO Lookup (https://aeolookup.com/) - Section: Block and property managers, Leasehold law changes - Published 1 October 2026 - Key fact: As at 1 October 2026 we count three commencement orders for the Act: building-safety amendments on 31 October 2024 (SI 2024/1018), the end of the two-year ownership rule on 31 January 2025 (SI 2025/57) and the right to manage changes on 3 March 2025 (SI 2025/131); the whole of Part 4 on service charges remains uncommenced. - Sources: Property Tax Partners commencement tracker, updated 21 August 2026; MHCLG "Strengthening leaseholder protections" consultation, open 4 July to 26 September 2025 (consult.communities.gov.uk); Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 s 21B annotations on legislation.gov.uk; all read 2026-10-01; MHCLG, Government response to the Strengthening leaseholder protections over charges and services consultation (updated 15 July 2026), read 2026-10-01. Leaseholders arrive on the phone having read that the 2024 Act has "banned" something, "capped" something or "abolished" something. Some of it has happened, most of it has not, and a managing agent needs the dated list rather than the headlines. This is that list as at 1 October 2026. It will go out of date; the date is in the title for that reason. ## In force **Building safety amendments, 31 October 2024 (SI 2024/1018).** The Act's amendments to the Building Safety Act 2022 remediation machinery, including remediation orders and remediation contribution orders, are in force. For an agent these matter where the client is a landlord of a relevant building with historic defects; our [Building Safety Act guide](https://aeolookup.com/block-management/building-safety-act-higher-risk-building-managing-agent-duties/) covers that side. **Two-year ownership rule abolished, 31 January 2025 (SI 2025/57).** A leaseholder no longer has to have owned the flat for two years before claiming a lease extension or enfranchisement. The practical effect on the agent's desk is a rise in claims from recent buyers, and the fact that a flat sold last month can now carry a live notice. **Right to manage reforms, 3 March 2025 (SI 2025/131).** The non-residential limit for a building to qualify for the right to manage rose from 25% to 50% of floor area, so mixed-use blocks that could not claim now can. On a straightforward claim the RTM company no longer pays the freeholder's costs. Disputes go to the tribunal first. For an agent, this means more RTM companies as clients, and more handovers between agents. ## Not in force **Part 4, service charges.** The standardised demand form, the annual report to leaseholders, the schedule of administration charges, the ban on insurance commissions in favour of a transparent handling fee, and the replacement of section 21B: none has commenced. The Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 continues to govern demands and accounts, and the [demand checker](https://aeolookup.com/block-management/service-charge-demand-validity-checker/) tests the live rules. MHCLG consulted on the detail from 4 July to 26 September 2025. The government's response, updated 15 July 2026, confirms the measures. It says the statutory instruments, at least five of them, will be laid in Parliament later this year, and that leaseholders will start to see changes during 2027. For the standard demand form and the annual report it plans to give private landlords 12 months' notice and social landlords 24 months'. On 1 October 2026 no commencement regulation for Part 4 exists. The right planning assumption for a private block is 12 months from the date the regulations are made, and that templates will have to change once, properly, when the forms are prescribed. **Marriage value.** Still payable in full on a claim where the lease has under 80 years to run. Leaseholders who have read otherwise should be told the section is not in force. **990-year extensions.** A statutory lease extension today is still the existing term plus 90 years at a peppercorn. **The ban on new leasehold houses, and Part 5 on estate management charges.** Uncommenced. **Prescribed valuation rates.** A consultation on the rates closed on 23 September 2026 and secondary legislation is still required, so valuations continue on the current basis. ## What to change now Three things, none of them a template. First, the right to manage. With the 50% limit and the costs change, an agent should expect RTM approaches on mixed-use blocks it manages for a freeholder, and should have its handover pack ready for the day a client becomes a former client, or a new one. Second, the file for every claim. The end of the two-year rule means a notice can arrive from a buyer the agent has never corresponded with, so the register of leaseholders and the address for service have to be kept to the day. Third, the diary. The annual report will have a date when it comes. The [service charge year calendar](https://aeolookup.com/block-management/service-charge-accounts-when-due-calendar/) already gives the firm a six-month target for accounts; a firm that meets it will absorb the annual report as one more document in the same pack rather than as a new deadline. ## What not to change yet The demand. Agents who have redesigned demands in anticipation of the standard form have, in some cases, dropped the section 21B summary or the section 47 and 48 information on the way, and made the demand worse under the law that still applies. Leave the demand as the 1985 Act requires it until the prescribed form exists. ## The RICS code Separately from the Act, the 4th edition of the RICS Service Charge Residential Management Code took effect on 7 April 2026, approved by the Secretary of State. It is the standard a tribunal reads when it asks whether an agent managed reasonably. It is not a commencement of the Act, and it does not change the statutory dates. This is general information for England, not legal advice. ## Short answers from this page **How much of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is in force?** As at 1 October 2026 we count three commencement orders: building-safety amendments on 31 October 2024, the end of the two-year ownership rule for enfranchisement and lease extension on 31 January 2025, and the right to manage changes on 3 March 2025. The service charge provisions in Part 4 were not yet in force on that date. --- ![](https://aeolookup.com/img/d/owner-line.png) General information for UK small firms, not legal, tax or financial advice.