Looking back at 2023 – did you miss anything?
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Service charges
January 2023
Judgment published in Sara and Hossein Asset Holdings Ltd v Blacks Outdoor Retail Ltd [2023] UKSC 2. The Supreme Court held that the landlord's service charge certificate was conclusive as to the sum payable by the tenant, but the tenant was entitled after payment to dispute its liability.
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Nuisance of overlooking
February 2023
Judgment published in Fearn and others v Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery [2023] UKSC 4. The Supreme Court found that "intense visual intrusion" from the Tate's viewing gallery could amount to an actionable nuisance
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Overseas Entities Regime
February 2023
Overseas entities that own UK property had to register at Companies House before this date in order to avoid penalties and restrictions pursuant to the Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022. Our briefing contains more information.
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Landlord and Tenant Act 1954
March 2023
The Law Commission announced that it would review how well the right to renew business tenancies in Part 2 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 is working, and consider options for reform.
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Infrastructure Levy
March 2023
The Government launched a technical consultation regarding the proposed new Infrastructure Levy.
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Business rates
New rateable values took effect for business rates purposes.
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Construction Industry Scheme
April 2023
HMRC launched a consultation seeking views on a proposal to update the compliance test for gross payment status to include VAT, and other changes to the administration of the Construction Industry Scheme. The consultation closed in July 2023. More discussion is here.
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Building safety
April 2023
The Building Safety Act 2022 was enacted, although some of its provisions did not come into force immediately.
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MEES regime
April 2023
Under the Energy Efficiency (Private Rented Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015/962 landlords could no longer continue to let non-domestic private rented property with a EPC rating of F or G without having registered a legitimate reason registered on the PRS Exemptions Register.
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Seniors housing and ground rents
April 2023
From 1 April 2023, new leases granted with a term of more than 21 years in the senior living sector were brought within the ban on ground rents in the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. Pre-existing leases are not affected.
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Renter's (Reform) Bill
May 2023
The Renters' (Reform) Bill was introduced in Parliament, and was intended to implement the reforms set out in the white paper entitled "A fairer private rented sector", from 2022. This has not yet been enacted.
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Senior housing
May 2023
The Older People’s Housing Taskforce was launched to "look at ways better choice, quality and security of housing for older people can be provided, including how to address regional disparities in supply of appropriate and where necessary specialised housing".
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Biodiversity net gain
May 2023
The Government published guidance on what can count towards a developer's BNG.
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Charities law
June 2023
The Charities Act 2022 was enacted to make it more straightforward to dispose of charity land, including giving charities more choice in who they can retain to give them advice regarding land disposals, and simplifying the content of designated advisers' reports for use in such disposals.
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REIT changes
Further batch of reforms to make the REIT regime more attractive are enacted. Rather than needing to hold at least 3 properties, a REIT can now hold a single commercial property worth at least £20 million. The reforms also facilitate use of private REITs by limited partnership fund structures by (i) helping such structures access the regime where they include multi-vehicle arrangements (such as parallel funds), and (ii) liberalising the withholding tax treatment of investors through partnerships.
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CMA report into the rented housing sector
August 2023
The Competition and Markets Authority ("CMA") published an update report into its work on the rental housing sector, identifying the three areas on which it intends to focus in the next stage of its project: exit fees in retirement homes, updating its guidance for letting agents, and looking into problematic practices in the rental market. Read more here.
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CMA report into the housebuilding industry
August 2023
The CMA published an initial update on its work and emerging analysis to date, highlighting its concerns about land-banking and estate management by private companies. It also opened a consultation on a proposal to make a market investigation reference under section 131 of the Enterprise Act 2002 in relation to the supply of new homes to consumers. We discuss this report in more detail here.
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Overseas Entities regime
August 2023
The first anniversary of the new regime. Those Overseas Entities which have already registered will now have to update their registration annually. BEIS published technical guidance concerning the new regime.
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Energy efficiency in buildings
September 2023
The Prime Minister announced some changes to the Government's net zero targets and commitments in order to "take a more pragmatic, proportionate, and realistic approach to reaching net zero". This included no longer requiring homeowners and landlords to meet energy efficiency targets by making "expensive insulation upgrades", which is taken to mean that the anticipated increase of MEES requirements to EPC C by 2025 will not now happen.
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Higher-risk buildings
Deadline for occupied higher-risk buildings to be registered with the Building Safety Regulator. Read more here.
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Planning
The Levelling-up and Regeneration Act 2023 gained royal assent, and is intended to lead to regeneration via planning reform, as discussed here.
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Corporate reform
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 gained Royal Assent, and will implement some wider-ranging reforms to tackle economic crime and improve transparency over corporate entities, as discussed here.
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Leasehold reform
The King's Speech included details of a proposed Leasehold and Freehold Bill, and confirmation that the Renters (Reform) Bill would be progressed through Parliament.
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Development
Closure of the CMA's consultation on the management of housing estates by private companies
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Development
Closure of the CMA's consultation on the use of land banks and how planning rules may be impacting competition and the delivery of new homes.
