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Ashley Wilson Solicitors is an established, boutique law firm specialising in London property law. We offer unrivalled personal service and extensive expertise developed over 30 years since our inception by senior partner Tony Wilson.
Operating from our offices in London Bridge and South Kensington we offer our services to residential, commercial and corporate clientele who require a prompt and efficient service to complete their conveyancing processes as well as a range of additional and related activities including litigation, commercial property matters, Wills, Trusts and Probate.
Our dynamic team offer an energetic approach and believe in providing the highest quality service for our clients and delivering on agreed objectives at minimal cost and disruption.
Our capabilities span a range of property law related areas and our team of experienced solicitors can provide you with the expert level of advice you require across the full spectrum of your property portfolio.
Residential conveyancing naturally forms a large part of our work and due to the nature of property in the capital, we are able to act on your behalf in all aspects of your property. We act for both landlords and tenants in the creation and management of tenancy agreements, dispute resolution and litigation as well as personal estate and equity based legal services.
From a commercial standpoint our expertise covers both corporate and business property portfolio management, commercial property conveyancing as well as litigation and contract disputes between landlords and commercial entities.
The High Court has now issued its much-anticipated judgment in Arc Time Freehold Income Authorised Fund and others -v- Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government [2025] EWHC 2751 (Admin), firmly rejecting the judicial review brought by several of London’s largest landed estates.
In January 2026 the Government published the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, confirming its intention to cap ground rents in existing residential leases at £250 per annum, with a longer-term objective of reducing those rents to a peppercorn. Another proposal by the Bill is to ban the creation of new leaseholds and instead to make commonhold the default mode of flat ownership.
The Bill has been published in draft form only and is subject to pre-legislative scrutiny, consultation and amendment. It is important for leaseholders, landlords and managing agents to understand the effects of the proposals and the likely timescale for their implementation.
The English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill, which had its first reading in the House of Commons on 10 July 2025, contains an unexpected ban on upward-only rent review clauses in new commercial leases. The Government has stated that the policy behind this ban is supporting smaller businesses who are struggling to keep up with open market rent reviews that only allow rent to rise, not fall.
The measure has generated concern among landlords and investors, particularly given the surprising lack of prior consultation on such a major reform in a sector that has historically operated with minimal statutory intervention. For now, the Bill remains in its early parliamentary stages and is highly susceptible to changes following lobbying, with its Second Reading due in September.
This article sets out the scope of the proposed ban and its implications for the commercial rental sector if passed as it currently stands.
