Estates
Freehold estate charges: new rights on the way
Transparency and challenge rights for homeowners on private estates.
Reviewed by Mark Cunningham AssocRICS MTPI MIFSM, Leasehold Director. Last reviewed 3 October 2026.
Homeowners on estates with unadopted roads, drainage or open space often pay an estate charge. Until now they have had few rights to see how it is spent.
What is coming
Part 5 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will give estate homeowners rights to information, to challenge unreasonable charges and to seek a replacement manager where management fails. The government consulted on the detail, closing on 12 March 2026, including ending the risk of losing your home over estate charge arrears.
These rights are not yet in force.
Sources
MHCLG consultation: protections for homeowners on freehold estatesThe Property Institute: update on the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024How we can help
Full block managementAJ LiteWe provide block management across Southport, Churchtown and Kew, Birkdale and Ainsdale, Formby, Ormskirk and Aughton, Crosby and Maghull, Bootle and Litherland, Liverpool, Hesketh Bank and Tarleton and Preston, Penwortham and Longton. For the law in brief, see Know the law.Related reading
Houses and flats on one estate: who pays for what?Leasehold reform: what is in force, and what is not yetGeneral information about the law in England, not advice on a particular building.