The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published an official Information Sheet to support implementation of the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 (RRA 2025), which explains the changes being made. Landlords and letting agents are legally obliged to provide this document to residential tenants by 31 May 2026. From 1 May 2026, around 11 million private renters in England will benefit from new statutory protections, including the abolition of Section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, the removal of fixed-term assured shorthold tenancies, stronger safeguards against rent increases, and enhanced rights such as requesting pets. The Information Sheet explains that these legal changes apply automatically to relevant tenancies and cannot be overridden by tenancy agreements. It ensures that tenants understand how their rights and obligations will change.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has announced that the Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution, Jim McMahon, has issued statutory invitation letters to all councils in two-tier areas and small neighbouring unitary authorities across England. The invitation calls for the development of unitary proposals to merge lower and upper tier local government services into new unitary councils. The letters were sent to councils in various areas, including Cambridgeshire, Devon, Essex, Hampshire, and Surrey, among others.

Provisions in the Renters' Rights Act 2025 came into force on 1 May which introduce significant reforms to the private rented sector, including the abolition of section 21 ‘no-fault’ evictions, the move to periodic tenancies, strengthened tenant protections and a more robust enforcement regime. In support of these changes, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued a range of guidance and updates to assist landlords, tenants and practitioners in navigating the new framework. The new publications include:

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has issued a summary of consultation responses on problems caused by existing ground rents, including financial burdens, lack of transparency and impacts on selling leasehold homes. Many respondents said leaseholders pay ground rent for no clear service, with increases over time and risks such as forfeiture. The consultation sought views on five options to cap ground rents, including a peppercorn cap, an absolute maximum value, a percentage of property value, returning to the original amount or freezing current levels. A significant majority of leaseholders supported the peppercorn option, while freeholders and investors generally opposed it, raising concerns about loss of income, asset values, investment impacts and possible legal or compensation issues.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) has published technical guidance on the Local Growth Fund in England for recipient Mayoral Strategic Authorities (MSAs). The document outlines the purpose of the fund, its programme requirements and its intended outcomes, introducing a long-term, flexible funding settlement that consolidates multiple funding streams into a single locally led pot aligned with Local Growth Plans. The fund focuses on three themes: infrastructure investment, business support and skills development to boost regional productivity, with £902 million allocated across 11 MSAs over four years. The guidance also sets out arrangements for delivery, monitoring, assurance, programme management and evaluation, particularly for MSAs without an integrated settlement, and provides requirements relating to subsidy control, procurement, equalities and branding.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published a template access agreement and accompanying guidance to assist developers and responsible entities in agreeing terms for developer access to buildings covered by the Developer Remediation Contract (DRC). The template is intended to facilitate developer entry to conduct fire safety surveys and assessments required under the DRC. MHCLG notes that using the template may help expedite building assessment and remediation work, but emphasises that the materials do not constitute legal advice and advises parties intending to use the template to seek independent legal counsel.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published its third quarterly report on progress in implementing the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 recommendations, together with updates on relevant Phase 1 recommendations. Of the 61 recommendations, 53 remain in progress and 8 have been completed. Since the September 2025 update, a further five recommendations have been completed, covering the construction industry, fire and rescue services, and vulnerable people. The report reiterates the government’s commitment to delivering all recommendations within four years, subject to the passage of necessary legislation, and confirms that the first annual report to Parliament will be published in February 2026.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published a toolkit to support local authorities in developing homelessness strategies and action plans and guidance on Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plans. The toolkit consolidates existing statutory duties with new grant requirements for homelessness and rough sleeping funding. It sets out requirements for local authorities to publish action plans by autumn 2026, setting out how they will deliver their homelessness strategy. These plans must set targets aimed at improving performance against Local Outcomes Framework metrics for homelessness and rough sleeping, details of local governance structures and partnerships arrangements, references to specific plans where applicable, as well as policies for ensuring the suitability of temporary accommodation. MHCLG will require authorities to submit their targets and links to published action plans by 1 December 2026.  The accompanying guidance states that areas experiencing high levels of long-term rough sleeping must develop Long-Term Rough Sleeping Partnership Plans. The plans should include a collective local vision and local target to help deliver the government’s commitment to halve long-term rough sleeping by the end of the current Parliament, partnership approaches to resource prioritisation, partnership arrangements for  delivering co-ordinated and personalised support through multi-agency case plans, governance systems for overseeing progress and collaboration  frameworks with health partners and prison and probation services. The plans must be agreed and signed off by 1 December 2026.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published translated versions of the executive summary and chapter one of its response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's Phase 2 report. These translations are available in eleven languages, including Amharic, Arabic, Farsi, Italian, Portuguese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrinya, Urdu, and Vietnamese.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published the updated Approved Document B (Fire Safety) volume 1 and 2: 2019 edition incorporating 2020, 2022 and 2025 amendments collated with 2026 and 2029 amendments.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published updated details of readiness checks conducted for Mayoral Strategic Authorities before receiving Integrated Settlements. It had commissioned external assessors to evaluate preparedness across seven authorities in two waves, assessing capability in strategy and governance, people and capability, financial and performance management, and reporting and evaluation. The findings indicated that most authorities were operating at ‘core’ or ‘embedded’ levels of readiness, with some elements of leading practice, supported by established strategic frameworks, governance arrangements, and financial systems, although consistency in areas such as programme management, workforce planning, risk management, and outcomes-based evaluation required further development.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has published an updated National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), following its July 2024 consultation on proposed reforms to the NPPF and other changes to the planning system. Alongside the updated NPPF, the MHCLG has published its formal response to the consultation. In addition, the Minister of State for Housing and Planning, Matthew Pennycook, has issued a ministerial statement outlining the proposed planning reforms and key changes. The updated NPPF introduces significant reforms to the planning system aimed at accelerating housebuilding and delivering 1.5 million homes. The changes to the NPPF for plan-making will take effect three months after its publication.