Real Estate Bulletin - January 2026

The Warm Homes Plan & MEES for privately rented homes – EPC C by 2030

On 21 January 2026, the government published its long-awaited Warm Homes Plan (WHP). This was a key measure in Labour's manifesto. The WHP covers a lot of ground, setting out a detailed package of measures which are focussed on upgrading homes to reduce emissions, adapt to climate change and lower household costs. A new Warm Homes Agency has been announced to support the delivery of the WHP. The document sets out the government’s plans for heat networks, as well as including a focus on the jobs and skills needed to support delivery of the measures.

Also included in the WHP is a confirmation that in relation to Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) and privately rented homes in England and Wales, ‘landlords will need to upgrade their properties to meet EPC Band C across two metrics by October 2030, unless their property has a valid exemption’.

The government consulted on its proposals in relation to MEES for privately rented homes in February 2025, in a consultation entitled ‘Improving the energy performance of privately rented homes: 2025 update’ (the ‘2025 Consultation’); and alongside the announcement in the WHP, it has published a response to this consultation. The government has also published a partial response to the consultation on Reforms to the Energy Performance of Buildings regime which was published in December 2024. The two consultations are closely linked, with the outcome of the consultation in relation to MEES for privately rented homes dependent on the outcome of the consultation on EPC reforms and the proposed changes to the EPC metrics.

Given previous government announcements, the headline requirement that privately rented homes in England & Wales will need to meet equivalent of EPC C by 2030 is not a surprise move. However, landlords will welcome the certainty and there is some useful policy detail (including changes to some of the measures proposed in the 2025 Consultation) confirmed in the responses.

We take a look at the government’s response to these consultations here.

Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published

On 27 January 2026, the government published a draft of the highly anticipated Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill (the Bill) alongside various supporting materials. The draft Bill includes a new commonhold framework, measures to ban the sale of new leasehold flats and a cap on ground rents. The Bill also contains measures which will abolish the right to forfeit a long residential lease for breach of covenant and introduce a statutory lease enforcement scheme and regulate remedies for arrears of estate rentcharges.

We look at these measures in more detail here.

The Decent Homes Standard

On 28 January 2026, the government published its response to the ‘Consultation on a reformed Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes’. Alongside this, it also published a policy statement on the new Decent Homes Standard.

The new Decent Home Standard will require:

• Criterion A – A home must be free of the most dangerous hazards.
• Criterion B – A home must be in a reasonable state of repair.
• Criterion C – A home must provide core facilities and services.
• Criterion D – A home must provide thermal comfort.
• Criterion E – A home should be free of damp and mould.

The policy statement provides further detail on each of these criteria.

The consultation response notes that the ‘new DHS will apply from 2035 in both the social and private rented sectors, at which point regulation and enforcement against these standards by the Regulator of Social Housing and local authority housing teams will begin’.

MEES will form part of criterion D. The MEES implementation dates will be earlier.

The government notes it will publish detailed guidance to accompany this new standard in the coming months.

Complex statutory construction: the Court's approach in Tower One

The Court of Appeal's decision in Tower One is a clear statement of the courts’ willingness to apply anti-avoidance provisions purposively in the SDLT context.

We take a look at this decision in more detail here.

CIS: consultation on administrative changes

HMRC has published a technical consultation on proposed amendments to the construction industry scheme (CIS). The first change involves enacting into law an existing extra statutory concession concerning payments made to public bodies, such as local authorities. The second change involves reinstating a requirement for nil returns by contractors, as it appears that the lack of any returns has, in practice, led to the issue of erroneous late filing penalties.

We consider these proposals here.

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