Nothing new landed on the statute book this week — instead, three stories about the machinery meant to enforce reforms already in force. The courts admit they can’t process the Renters’ Rights Act at the pace it needs, a leasehold loophole consultation closes with real money riding on the answer, and a council shows exactly the evidence a licensing scheme should be built on. Process stories, not headline announcements — which is usually where the risk to a transaction or a compliance file actually sits.
The courts are the weak link in the Renters’ Rights Act, and the government knows it
Courts and Legal Services minister Sarah Sackman has confirmed, as LandlordZone reports, that the government is hiring 1,000 new judges and tribunal members this year specifically to cope with demand generated by the Renters’ Rights Act. She also confirmed a new digital possession service and a dedicated portal for the Residential Property Chamber are in development, with the first stage due by the end of this year and full end-to-end digitisation of the courts promised by April or May 2027 — not this year, next year.
My read: the headline number is designed to reassure, but the timeline undercuts it. A possession claim filed today still relies on an already-stretched county court list and a paper-heavy process; recruiting 1,000 people this year fixes capacity, not throughput, while the system they’re working within stays largely as it is until spring 2027 at the earliest. Anyone who assumed the recruitment drive meant faster possession orders from next month has read the announcement more optimistically than the minister actually stated it.
If you’re a landlord or agent with a possession claim already lodged, or about to lodge one, budget for months rather than weeks and say so plainly to the client. If you’re advising on a purchase where the seller is relying on getting vacant possession from a tenanted property, build that court delay into the timeline before exchange, not after.
A one-line exemption could keep ground rent alive on 3.8 million leases
The government’s consultation on whether “quid pro quo” leases should be exempt from the incoming £250 ground rent cap closes on 27 August. The cap itself, applying to roughly 3.8 million leases granted before the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, is meant to hold ground rent at £250 a year before it steps down to a peppercorn after 40 years — but the government is now asking whether leases where a leaseholder knowingly accepted a higher ground rent in exchange for a lower purchase premium should sit outside that cap entirely. Propertymark’s response, published this month, warns any exemption “must be narrow, supported by clear evidence and straightforward to apply” or it risks becoming a route for ordinary ground rents to dodge the cap altogether, and cites its own research that 86 per cent of leaseholders have paid ground rent in the past two years, with 47 per cent of those saying it has had a large negative effect on their finances.
My read: this reads like a technical consultation, but the practical risk sits squarely in conveyancing. Proving a lease is genuinely “quid pro quo” rather than an ordinary ground rent dressed up retrospectively will need historic valuation evidence that most leaseholders, and most conveyancers on a tight completion date, won’t have to hand. That is exactly the kind of ambiguity that stalls a sale at exchange while two firms argue over whether a twenty-year-old ground rent clause qualifies.
If you’re buying or selling a leasehold flat with a ground rent above the ordinary run — anything materially north of the traditional peppercorn or a few hundred pounds — ask your conveyancer now whether the lease could get caught by this exemption question, rather than finding out mid-transaction once the consultation has already closed.
Preston’s licensing case is built on hazard data, not complaints — and it won’t be the last
Preston City Council is consulting on a selective licensing scheme for the City Centre, St Matthew’s and Plungington wards, citing Building Research Establishment data showing around 16 per cent of privately rented homes in those areas contain a Category 1 hazard, the most serious tier under HHSRS. The council is candid about why it wants the scheme: its current enforcement is “largely driven by complaints,” meaning a dangerous property only comes to its attention once a tenant reports it. The proposed licence would run five years and cost £1,050, split £470 on application and £580 on grant, with no discount or instalment option on offer, and the consultation runs until 11 October.
My read: what stands out isn’t Preston specifically, it’s the method. Leading with a hazard survey rather than a complaints tally gives a council a materially stronger evidential base if a scheme is later challenged — and it sets the bar other authorities will increasingly be measured against. Selective licensing has been expanding faster since a December 2024 change removed the central-government cap on how much of a borough a council could license in one go, and every scheme that survives scrutiny makes the next council’s decision to launch one that bit easier.
If you own rental property in a designated licensing area, or one where a scheme is out for consultation, don’t wait for the licence to go live before fixing what a hazard survey would flag — damp, HHSRS-relevant disrepair, fire door failures in HMOs. Landlords in mixed-tenure town-centre wards elsewhere in the South East should treat Preston’s evidence base as a preview of the argument that will be made locally before too long.
What I’d actually do
- Got a possession claim lodged, or about to lodge one? Plan for months, not weeks, and don’t rely on the digital service arriving before spring 2027.
- Buying or selling a leasehold flat with an above-ordinary ground rent? Ask your conveyancer now whether the lease could be caught by the quid pro quo exemption question before the 27 August consultation deadline.
- Own rental property in, or near, a licensing consultation area? Get ahead of a hazard-led inspection — check damp, HHSRS items and fire doors before a scheme forces the issue.
- Managing rented homes in a South East town centre with a profile like Preston’s three wards? Expect a licensing consultation of your own before long, and start the compliance file now rather than when the letter arrives.
If today’s notes have you working out how a court delay affects a purchase timeline, whether a lease you’re selling could get caught by the ground rent exemption question, or what a hazard-led licensing inspection would actually find in your property, the practice covers full building surveys across the South East. Get in touch.
Small print. General commentary, not advice for your specific circumstances — regulations, schemes and deadlines change, and your property is not the average property. Sources linked were accurate when read on 20 August 2026.