Commonhold

Commonhold is a form of freehold property ownership for flats and other interdependent buildings, introduced in England and Wales by the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 and available for registration since September 2004. A commonhold unit owner holds the freehold of their individual flat outright and indefinitely, there is no lease, no expiry date, and no superior landlord. Shared parts of the building (entrances, roofs, structure, communal plant) are owned and managed collectively by a commonhold association, a company in which all unit owners are automatically members.

How commonhold differs from leasehold

Under leasehold, you own the right to occupy a flat for the remaining term of a time-limited lease, subject to the freeholder's rules, service charges, ground rent, and the risk of forfeiture for breach. Under commonhold, you own the freehold of your unit permanently. There is no ground rent (abolished under commonhold from the outset), no risk of forfeiture by a superior landlord, and no declining asset. The tradeoff is that there is no third-party freeholder to absorb the management burden, unit owners govern the building collectively through the commonhold association, bound by a governing document called the Commonhold Community Statement (CCS), which sets out each owner's rights, obligations, and share of running costs (the commonhold assessment, equivalent to service charge).

Letting a commonhold unit in the private rented sector

If you own a commonhold unit and let it to a residential tenant, normal private rented sector rules apply in full. Your tenant's assured periodic tenancy, your obligations under the Renters' Rights Act 2025, your rent collection duties, and your compliance requirements, including gas safety, EICR, EPC, deposit protection, right to rent, are entirely unaffected by the fact that your unit sits in a commonhold structure rather than a leasehold one. From working with self-managing landlords across the UK, we know the practical concern is usually not the tenure itself but the building management layer: in commonhold, if the roof leaks or the communal boiler fails, there is no freeholder to chase, the commonhold association must act, and as a unit owner you are a member of it, with both a voice and a liability.

You must also comply with the CCS. Many commonhold community statements restrict subletting, alterations, or occupant numbers. Check yours before granting a tenancy, breaching the CCS could expose you to enforcement action by the association. August's compliance checklist tracks the obligations that apply to your let regardless of whether your unit sits in a leasehold or commonhold structure.

The 2026 reform: commonhold as the default tenure

Commonhold take-up since 2004 has been negligible, fewer than 20 developments in England used it by 2020. The government published a draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill on 27 January 2026, which proposes to make commonhold the mandatory tenure for all new flats sold for homeownership once the framework is fully operational. The ban on new leasehold flats is expected to apply from approximately 2029. The Bill also reduces the leaseholder consent threshold for voluntary conversion from 100% to 50%, making it easier for existing blocks to switch. Ground rent under existing leases will be capped; forfeiture of residential leases will be abolished and replaced with a proportionate enforcement regime.

For the background to recent leasehold reform, see our guide to the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

Frequently asked question

What is a commonhold association?

A commonhold association is the company that owns and manages the shared parts of a commonhold development, including the structure, roof, communal areas, and services. Every unit owner is automatically a member. The association operates under the Commonhold Community Statement, which sets out each owner's obligations and their share of the running costs (the commonhold assessment). Decisions on expenditure and management are made collectively, usually by vote.

Can I convert my leasehold flat to commonhold?

Under the current rules, conversion requires the unanimous consent of the freeholder, all leaseholders, and all mortgage lenders, a threshold that has made conversion essentially unworkable in practice. The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill 2026 proposes to reduce this to 50% of leaseholders, which would make voluntary conversion significantly more achievable, though it is not yet law. Leaseholders who have already bought their building's freehold through collective enfranchisement are best placed to convert.

Does commonhold affect what I can charge my tenant?

No. Rent levels, deposit rules, rent increase procedures, and eviction grounds are all governed by tenancy law, specifically the Housing Act 1988 as amended by the Renters' Rights Act 2025. The tenure structure of your unit (commonhold or leasehold) has no bearing on these obligations. The commonhold assessment you pay as a unit owner is a cost to you as a landlord, not something you can pass directly to your tenant outside the agreed rent.

Will new flats still be sold as leasehold?

Not indefinitely. Under the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published in January 2026, the government intends to ban the sale of new leasehold flats once the reformed commonhold framework is operational, with implementation expected around 2029. Existing leasehold flats are unaffected; the ban is prospective only.