A controversial ban on upwards-only rent review clauses in new and renewal commercial leases has been confirmed as the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (EDCEB) has achieved royal assent.
The act, which was launched in July 2025 by former housing secretary Angela Rayner, is designed to give new streamlining powers to local mayors to speed up the delivery of new homes and infrastructure projects.
Alongside the ban on upwards-only rent reviews, the act includes a Community Right to Buy to give local people the first right of refusal for “valued community assets” such as shops and community centres when they are put up for sale.
Other measures include mandates for mayoral strategic authorities to develop local growth plans, and powers for mayors to intervene in planning applications of potential strategic importance.
Owen Spencer, senior lawyer (corporate occupiers) at Forsters, warned that banning upwards-only rent reviews “simply forces landlords and their lenders to find new ways to mitigate it”.
“Upwards-only rent reviews became the standard for a reason, providing certainty to investors and lenders in a market heavily shaped by inflation risk,” he added.
“Shorter lease terms, higher headline rents, more frequent reviews and increased use of indexation or stepped rents: in some cases, these alternatives may result in increased rental pressures and reduced tenant security.
“Lack of investor confidence could dampen future development, tightening the already chronic undersupply of stock and driving rents higher still. In many cases, these alternatives may leave occupiers actually facing higher costs than before.”
Melanie Leech, chief executive of the British Property Federation, noted that despite “significant industry concern” over the ban on upwards-only rent reviews, the policy was “debated for only 40 minutes in the House of Lords”.
“The government must now keep its promise to consult on the implementation details, including appropriate caps and collars for leases, if they are to mitigate the unintended consequences of this change,” she added.
“This is to ensure that current levels of long-term commercial property investment into UK towns can be maintained, along with the benefits this brings to public and private sector occupiers alike.”
However, Leech also said the royal assent marked a “significant step forward in creating new structures of governance that can, working with the private sector, exercise genuinely strategic powers over planning, placemaking and regeneration to boost economic growth across all parts of England, whether that be through housing, commercial or mixed-use development”.
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