Key takeaways
High Court restructuring creates the new Business and Property Division
The BPD will replace the Chancery Division from 1 October 2026.
Existing specialist courts will continue exercising subject-matter jurisdiction
Commercial, Circuit Commercial and TCC jurisdictions remain unchanged.
Precedents, forms and guidance require updating from October 2026
Court documents and practice guidance will reflect the new structure.
Significant structural reforms will take effect on 1 October 2026 to the High Court, with the introduction of the Business and Property Division (BPD). The new BPD will replace the Chancery Division and stand alongside the King’s Bench and Family Divisions of the High Court. The specialist courts within the BPD will continue to deal with their respective areas of expertise, including the Commercial Court, Circuit Commercial Court and Technology and Construction Court. The reforms are intended to provide a more coherent structure for business and property litigation which is to be welcomed by all commercial parties using the court system.
What does this mean in practice?
The reforms represent a significant restructuring of the court’s existing arrangements for dealing with business and property disputes, although for users much of the immediate impact is likely to be one of terminology and structure rather than a fundamental change to the way cases are conducted.
For practitioners, the most obvious change will be the language used in court documentation. References to the Chancery Division will increasingly be replaced by references to the BPD, while the Business and Property Courts will sit within the new framework.
Court forms are being reviewed and amended where necessary, and the Chancery Guide is expected to be updated for 1 October 2026, potentially under the new title of the Business and Property Guide. The specialist guides, including those for the Commercial Court, Circuit Commercial Court and Technology and Construction Court are also expected to be updated to reflect the new structure.
Impact?
Sir Colin Birss, Chancellor of the High Court in his address to the Chancery Bar Association on 8 September 2026 explained:
The reason for doing this is to modernise the court structure, bringing together specialist courts under a coherent single Division to improve access to justice, efficiency, accessibility, and the UK’s international competitiveness. ….the replacement of the Business and Property Courts with the Business and Property Division (BPD) is a further logical step, bringing all the components parts together into one Division of the High Court. It makes sense because the work is so closely related – it is business and property work – and it is good for court users to know which Division their claims ought to be in.
From 1 October 2026, he will become the President of the BPD.
The reforms are intended to:
make it easier for court users to understand where to bring their cases, improving clarity and access to justice
strengthen the international reputation of the Business and Property Courts by including them within a single, coherent divisional structure
simplify governance arrangements for business and property work within the High Court
support flexible judicial deployment, ensuring that judges can be assigned where they are most needed.
One of the main advantages of the changes is that all of the parts of the BPCs will be under common oversight and leadership, and that will mean there is a larger pool of judges available for the work of the BPD as a whole than before allowing for work to be done more efficiently and with increased certainty as to trial arrangements, something that all businesses and court users will be pleased to see.
Find out more about our Commercial Dispute Resolution team or contact us today to discuss how we can help.
This article was co-authored by Trainee Solicitor, Josh Evans.
