Boodle Hatfield Property Insights, August 2026

Boodle Hat昀椀eld
Property Insights
August 2026
The legal framework governing property
ownership continues to evolve at pace.
For owners, the key challenge is not any
single reform, but rather the cumulative
e昀昀ect of a number of overlapping
changes. While some reforms are
already in force, many remain subject to
consultation or await implementation.
This update highlights the principal
developments and the direction of travel.
assumptions around income certainty and rental growth,
particularly when looking at acquisitions, valuations, and
re昀椀nancing.
Ban on upwards-only rent
reviews
A further signi昀椀cant development is the introduction of a
new disclosure regime for contractual control agreement
introduced under the Levelling-up and Regeneration Act
2023.
In April 2026 the English Devolution and Community
Empowerment Act 2026 received Royal Assent,
introducing a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in
business tenancies. The relevant provisions are not yet
in force and are expected to commence in 2027 at the
earliest, subject to secondary legislation.
The ban will apply to both new and renewal commercial
leases once in force. Provisions in existing leases will
generally remain unaffected, although there will be a
limited retrospective element affecting certain renewal
arrangements entered into on or after 17 March 2026.
Traditional mechanisms such as open market or indexlinked reviews will be permitted, if they can operate on
both an upwards and downwards basis. Fixed or stepped
rents are expected to remain permissible. The position on
more complex mechanisms (such as caps and collars)
remains under consideration.
Removing upwards-only reviews is a fundamental
change to the way commercial leases have traditionally
operated. Landlords and investors will need to revisit
For more information see:
•
Understanding the ban on upwards-only reviews
David Rawlence, Commercial Real Estate Partner
Increased transparency of land
control arrangements
Details of certain agreements, including options,
promotion agreements and conditional contracts will
need to be registered at HM Land Registry, with key
details becoming publicly available once the register is
fully operational (currently anticipated to be late 2028).
The new regime applies to all new control agreements
entered into on or after 8 June 2026. Variations to
existing control agreements (where the variation affects
registrable information) made after 6 April 2027 will
also come within scope on that date and will require
registration.
This marks a clear move towards transparency in an
area traditionally characterised by con昀椀dentiality and
may in昀氀uence how developers and landowners choose
to structure and negotiate such arrangements going
forward.
For more information see:
•
Disclosure of Contractual Control Agreements
Andrew Wilmot-Smith, Partner & Head of Real Estate

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