Fire risk costs

The terrible events of Grenfell should not be forgotten. The government has stated its intention to make 'ground-breaking reforms to give residents and homeowners more rights, powers, and protections – so homes across the country are safer.' The way that it has done this is by introducing the Building Safety Act 2022.

The Act delivers far-reaching protections for qualifying leaseholders from the costs associated with remediating historical building safety defects, and an ambitious toolkit of measures that will allow those responsible for building safety defects to be held to account.

It overhauls existing regulations, creating lasting change and makes clear how residential buildings should be constructed, maintained and made safe. The Act creates three new bodies to provide effective oversight of the new regime: the Building Safety Regulator, the National Regulator of Construction Products and the New Homes Ombudsman. Together these changes mean owners will manage their buildings better, and the housebuilding industry has the clear, proportionate framework it needs to deliver more, and better, high-quality homes.

Of particular relevance to leaseholders is the regime that was introduced in June 2022 to give leaseholders who own a long lease of a flat in a 'relevant building' protection regarding various costs. Building owners will not legally be able to charge qualifying leaseholders (defined under the Act but including those living in their own homes and with no more than three UK properties in total) for any costs in circumstances where a building (in the majority of cases meaning those over five storeys or eleven metres tall) requires cladding to be removed or remediated.  'Qualifying leaseholders' will also have robust protections from the costs associated with non-cladding defects, including interim measures like waking watches.

However, as is often the case, what seems straightforward in principle is anything but in practice. This has become complex already and those in affected flats, or those who want to buy a flat that might be affected should take specialist legal advice. The leaseholder protections are dependant on a lot of factors and both the landlord and the owner of the flat have to complete and produce certificates to each other.

To discuss this or any other property matter, contact us.