This Consultation Paper is the second in the Law Commission’s Business Tenancies project. Their first Consultation Paper (“CP1”) considered whether major structural reform of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1954 (“1954 Act”) was needed. They published an interim statement in June 2025, explaining their provisional conclusion that the current approach of giving tenants security of tenure by default, subject to the ability to contract out, is the right model for the modern commercial leasehold market. https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/business-tenancies-the-right-to-renew/. 

Taking that conclusion as a starting point, the second Consultation Paper (“CP2”) considers the detail of how the 1954 Act should operate in practice, to enable them to recommend reforms that will support the efficient use of premises now and in the future. 

They are consulting, and making provisional proposals, on a wide range of issues including: 

• Qualifying criteria - excluding the majority of periodic tenancies from the scope of the 1954 Act and increasing the duration threshold (which sets the length of fixed-term tenancies which are excluded from scope).  

• Contracting out - simplifying the contracting-out process. 

• Terms of a renewal tenancy - considering how the terms of a renewal tenancy are determined by the court, and whether changes should be made to address environmental matters. 

• Rent – changing the law to ensure that the court can grant a renewal tenancy with a turnover rent and improving the interim rent process. 

• Grounds - reviewing the test in Ground F including whether it should change to take into account modern building methods and/or the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards or “MEES” regime. 

• Dispute resolution process - exploring whether lease renewal disputes should remain in the county courts or whether some or all cases should be decided in the tribunal and/or High Court, and considering whether Alternative Dispute Resolution could have a greater role in resolving disputes.  

The consultation can be found here: Business tenancies: the right to renew – consultation paper 2: Modernising security of tenure – Law Commission

The consultation closes on 16 September 2026.

This consultation seeks views on amending regulations to introduce steps that councils will be required to take before moving to formal enforcement.

It outlines the steps that councils should follow ahead of seeking a liability order for unpaid council tax and proceeding to formal enforcement action.

This consultation covers the:

• statutory steps which councils must follow ahead of this process
• guidance and best practice for councils to consider in recovering council tax debt
• practical barriers to these potential steps and how these may be addressed

The consultation can be found here: Improving enforcement of council tax - GOV.UK

The consultation closes on 29 July 2026.

On 29 June 2026, the Minister of Finance announced that a public consultation would be taken forward on two measures relating to the non-domestic rating system:

• a Business Growth Accelerator, providing temporary, targeted relief for businesses taking practical steps to expand; and
• Non-Domestic Vacant Rating, including how any increases in liability levels should be introduced.

The Minister’s full statement is available at: https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/minister-finance-oral-ministerial-statement-consultation-business-growth-accelerator-and-vacant-rating-reform

The Department has published a consultation paper setting out background information on both areas. The Department is seeking views on the options outlined which will help inform future policy proposals.

The consultation can be found here: Business Growth Accelerator and Non-Domestic Vacant Rating (NDVR) Consultation | Department of Finance

The consultation closes on 23 September 2026.

The Scottish Government is seeking your views on the proposed rates for two new Council Tax bands for high-value residential properties in Scotland, commonly referred to as a “Mansion Tax”.

Council Tax helps fund essential local services including schools, social care, roads, libraries and waste collection. All revenue raise from the two new Council Tax bands will be retained locally. 

The intention is for the new bands to take effect from 1 April 2028 and they will be based on estimated property values as at 1 April 2026.

The two new bands will be:

• Band I for properties valued between £1 million and £2 million; and
• Band J for properties valued at more than £2 million.

The addition of these new property bands will ensure that the highest-value properties make a fairer and more proportionate contribution within the existing system. The change is expected to affect fewer than 1% of residential properties in Scotland. 

This consultation seeks views on the Council Tax rates that should apply to those new bands.

Your views will help inform the rates that are set for the new bands before legislation is introduced to the Scottish Parliament.

The consultation can be found here: Council Tax High Value Property Bands (Mansion Tax) - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space

The consultation closes on 24 August 2026.

This call for evidence is aimed at organisations and individuals who have information that is relevant to how Carer’s Allowance could be modernised, including through an earnings taper, the role of the earnings rules and how they operate in practice.

The Review welcomes evidence and insight from individuals and organisations with lived or learned experience, knowledge and expertise. Evidence can take many forms and could include written submissions, existing data or unpublished analysis or reports.

The consultation can be found here: Carer's Allowance: call for evidence - GOV.UK

The consultation closes on 18 August 2026.

Under Universal Credit (UC), income is assessed on a monthly basis, using real-time information from HMRC. This differs from legacy benefits, where income is typically averaged over a longer and more stable period. As a result, households receiving UC can experience more frequent recorded income fluctuations. Because changes in a person’s income trigger a reassessment of UC, and therefore a reassessment of their entitlement to CTRS, the move to UC has led to an increase in the frequency of reassessments for working-age households. 

The Welsh Government propose to introduce, through regulations, a tolerance rule for small changes in UC awards. Under this proposal:

• small changes to UC payments (within the tolerance level of £65) would not trigger a CTRS reassessment.
• CTRS awards would remain unchanged unless or until UC changes by more than the tolerance.
• no revised council tax bills would be issued to households; and
• there would be no change to the council tax amount payable.

The consultation can be found here: Council Tax Reduction Scheme in Wales: technical consultation on reassessment thresholds [HTML] | GOV.WALES

The consultation closes on 23 September 2026.