UK Real Estate Round Up September 2026

Training

Join us for episode 8 in our PROPcast series at 10 a.m. on 13 October 2026 when our subject will be "The Building Safety Levy – what developers need to know”. The Building Safety Levy comes into effect in England from 1 October 2026. Subject to limited exceptions, it applies to building control applications for the provision of residential and purpose built student accommodation. In this PROPcast Lauren Morrison and Gemma Irving Lees from our Construction team will explain the purpose of the levy, how it will be applied, and its impact on developers and the financial viability of development schemes. Book your place here.

If you missed episode 7: “The Model Commercial Lease – Why it matters and how it can help your next deal”, you can watch or listen back here.

Legal Updates

Building Safety Act 2022

FRAEW guidance issued by the government

The government has issued new guidance on Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEW) explaining the process for carrying out a FRAEW,  what information is included in an FRAEW report and how to understand the findings and recommendations in the report. It has also issued a step by step guide to commissioning a FRAEW and a residents’ guide to fire safety in blocks of flats, amongst other new guidance. A FRAEW is a structured assessment of the fire risks associated with a building’s external wall system including cladding, insulation, cavity barriers, balconies, windows and doors. It is designed to help building owners and “responsible persons” under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 understand the level of fire risk and identify actions to reduce that risk. It does not replace a fire risk assessment, but sits alongside it, providing a detailed assessment of the external wall risks.  All residential blocks with two or more flats are required to have a fire risk assessment (FRA), which should identify whether a FRAEW is required for the building based on the potential risk of the external walls. The guidance is available here: Fire risk appraisals of external walls (FRAEWs) - GOV.UK

Long trailed second staircase rules coming into force on 30 September 2026– new Approved Document B

“Approved Documents” are those approved by the Secretary of State and give practical guidance on common building situations about how to meet the requirements of the Building Regulations 2010 for England.  Approved Document B (ADB) covers fire safety matters in and around buildings. Amendments to ADB were announced in 2024, but are now coming into force and require new blocks of flats in England with a storey 18 metres or more above ground level to have more than one common stair to allow for better escape in the case of fire. Fire safety: Approved Document B - GOV.UK

Land Registry

Practice and Process September 2026 - HM Land Registry newsletter

Training Hub

A reminder that the Land Registry has a training hub with all sort of online learning. Excellent for those who would like a refresher or who might be new to the area.

Landlord and Tenant

Renters’ Rights Act 2025 – landlord registration service to launch in December 2026 and rent reviews to be handled by VOA

The government has announced that the new landlord registration scheme under the Renters' Rights Act 2025 will be rolled out region-by-region from 15 December 2026, starting in the West Midlands, and onto other areas over 12 months. Landlords will be required to register themselves and their rental properties through the new “Register Your Rental Property” service within three months, with registration numbers to be included in letting advertisements. These requirements initially only apply to landlords with properties under let, or which become occupied during rollout but all landlords actively letting property will need to have registered by 14 November 2027. Under future legislation landlords will also be required to register any unoccupied properties before marketing them for let. Corporate landlords will need to provide information including a name, date of birth, email address and telephone number for an individual person who is making the entry on the register on behalf of the landlord organisation.  If the organisation is a trust, the name, date of birth and address of the “lead trustee” will need to be provided.

The announcement also confirms that HMRC’s Valuation Office will take on responsibility for rent increase challenges in England, although renters must continue to apply to the First-tier Tribunal until the new system is implemented.  More information here: Get ready: 'Register your rental property' service - Housing Hub and here: Stronger protections and greater confidence for renters - GOV.UK

Planning

Government guidance on Environmental Delivery Plans

The government and Natural England have published new guidance on Environmental Delivery Plans (EDPs), a key element of the Planning and Infrastructure Act 2025's nature restoration regime. EDPs are intended to provide developers with an alternative route to satisfy certain environmental obligations relating to protected sites and species. Where an approved EDP applies and is used, developers can rely on the plan rather than carrying out their own project-specific assessments or mitigation for the environmental issues it covers. In return, developers will pay the Nature Restoration Levy into the Nature Restoration Fund, which Natural England will use to deliver strategic conservation measures at scale. The guidance explains how EDPs, the levy and the Fund will operate in practice, with draft levy regulations currently before Parliament. Developers should also watch for Natural England's forthcoming consultation on the first draft EDP, which will focus on nutrient pollution.  More information here: Environmental Delivery Plans - GOV.UK

Scotland

RoS and NRS announce changes to Sasine deed access and fees from November 2026

Registers of Scotland (RoS) and National Records of Scotland (NRS) have announced that, from 17 November 2026, all Sasine deed requests post-1869 will be processed exclusively by RoS. NRS will continue to hold the historic Sasine volumes and burgh registers as part of its archival collections. NRS will continue to process requests for: (1) pre-1869 Sasine deeds; (2) Burgh, Particular and General Registers; (3) Books of Council & Session; (4) the Register of Inhibitions and (5) duplicate plans. From 17 November 2026, NRS will also charge £40 + VAT for any request to search the records for a legal purpose that does not contain a reference number, while the RoS fee for a Sasine deed will remain £25 + VAT. Fees for requests that include a reference number and those that fall under historical and academic research will remain unchanged. More information here: Improving access to Sasine deeds - Registers of Scotland

Other

Multi-Storey Car Parks (Safety) Bill – “Gabe’s law”

A Private Members’ Bill has been introduced into Parliament to increase the minimum required height of guarding in multi-storey car parks. The aim is to make provision about the height of guarding in existing multi-storey car parks, require 24 hour staffing of multi-storey car parks and for other connected purposes. Only a small percentage of Private Members’ Bills make it onto the statute book so this may not become law anytime soon, but as Sarah Valentine, partner in our Regulatory & Investigations team discusses in this article, the issues raised by the bill have been gaining public attention and so it is one to watch: read more here - Gabe's Law: What Safety Professionals Need to Know About the Multi-Storey Car Parks (Safety) Bill. 

Articles & Publications

Wales:  Codes of practice for Student Accommodation Management

The Welsh Government has launched a consultation on the approval of updated codes of practice for the management of student accommodation.  Read the full briefing from Steven Thom and Joe Geen here or on LinkedIn here.

Publications from our Real Estate Disputes team:

R (Respondent) v McCafferty and others (Appellants) [2026] UKSC 20 – where the Supreme Court ruled that blocking access to private business premises on a private road does not constitute an offence under the second limb of the statutory public nuisance offence in section 78 of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022. Links: Lawbite: Can protest on private land constitute a public nuisance? / LinkedIn

Barnes Davison Thomas & Anor v Martin Craig Nicholas & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 847 - where the Court of Appeal ruled that a neighbour whose unusually sensitive business falls outside the protection of the law of nuisance, may still recover in negligence where the defendant knew of the risk and could reasonably have avoided it. Links: Lawbite: Falcons, neighbours and the limits of nuisance: negligence fills the gap

Global Sustainability & ESG Insights

You can read the latest edition of our Global Sustainability & ESG Insights on LinkedIn or on our website. Our monthly Insights provides you with a summary of the key developments from around the world.

• LinkedIn
• Website