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of registered providers to litigate is likely to lead to a more robust contractual position being adopted, which will lead to increased recovery Supported housing regulation Charlotte Cook, Partner, Social Housing The Government’s promise to support those in supported housing is long overdue. Its consultation under the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023 closed in May, and we had hoped to see the implementation of the measures proposed in this Act
the cost-of-living crisis, struggled to balance the books, fund remediation, fund new development and long-term maintenance and repairs. Its reintroduction is welcome news
providers; rents will increase along with marginally higher valuations and, consequently, the ability to secure increased borrowing. Coupled reductions, it may even contribute towards a renewed interest in capital market products. Building safety litigation and adjudication Charis Beverton, Partner, Construction The Building Safety Act 2022 continues to dominate the risk landscape. Issues arising under the Act are increasingly being litigated or adjudicated, particularly where funding or remediation covenants are breached due to prolonged approval timelines. Some of this may be resolved by the changed approach by the Building Safety Regulator (and its shift from the Health and Safety Executive subgroup to the Ministry of Housing, Communities 2026), but we anticipate compliance and enforcement issues will continue Awaab’s Law will also increase the
pressure on social housing providers, with its strict timelines for hazard under-resourced teams.
commitment to securing safe spaces and housing for women and girls, and we would hope to ensure that all of those in need of supported housing and care are fully supported. That should now be a priority for 2026. Conveyancing reforms Ruth Barnes, Partner, and Jodie Barnes, Senior Associate, Residential Development Sales Social housing providers dealing with new build sales will have to address proposed changes to the conveyancing process if the Government is to deliver on its aspiration ‘to deliver a faster, more reliable home buying and selling system, driven by consumers, innovative technology and high standard The Home Buying and Selling Reform
consultation was published in October 2025. One of its key proposals is the idea of introducing a mandatory requirement that sellers would have to work with their conveyancers and surveyors to carry out searches and a property condition assessment before putting a property on the market. It also proposes that a standardised set of data would have to be provided at the point of listing. Effectively, most of the legal work will be front-loaded, with the Government considering legislation to December published two consultations protections for homeowners of freehold estates to tackle what are seen as ‘considerable injustices’, and the second addressing ‘unadopted amenities on privately managed estates’. They indicate, together with the Leasehold and Reform Act 2024, further change in
2026 for owners of privately managed estates. Planning reform Alex Woolcott, Partner, Planning The Government has trialled several reforms to help deliver its stated target of delivering 1.5m new homes during this parliament, driven through national and regional policy. In London, we have both the emerging
London Plan, which given recent housing start numbers we can expect to focus on works its way through the various draft stages, the Mayor and government have also published emergency measures. levels of affordable housing delivery housing delivery, they also include proposed measures to potentially and mixed tenure schemes in the capital. That sits in a broader context in which
we have seen the government putting more focus on delivery of Social Rent as the preferred tenure, as apparent in the Golden Rules when it comes to that trend continue in the draft NPPF, with the potential for minimum levels of social rent housing being prescribed in national policy, and the proposed emergency housing delivery measures for London. In practice, even the emergency
measures won’t have a meaningful impact for some months – they remain out for consultation and various legislative steps then need to be taken for some of them to come into effect. That means we will be a good way into 2026 before they make their mark. S106 units remains to be seen, as broad funding challenges remain and will take time taken for planning decisions to be issued as the proposals for national schemes of delegation come to fruition, streamlining BNG for smaller sites, and hopefully the commencement of S73B to make it easier to amend schemes to and regulatory climate RPs are having to navigate.
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