Building Safety Act 2022

Received Royal Assent on 28 April to become the Building Safety Act 2022.

This is a long and complex bit of legislation (245 pages) however, it provides for various protections for leaseholders so that the developers and/or owners of blocks requiring remedial works to flammable external wall materials or cladding must pay for this on blocks over 11m.

In some situations the leaseholders may still have to pay, but this will be capped depending on the value of the property.

The fact sheet explaining how these protections for leaseholders will work is here.

One can only hope that this will go some way to allay the lender's fears and they'll take the new legislation into account. (i.e, They will be willing to lend once it can be established that the leaseholders will not be liable for the costs of remediation, or at least it will be capped at some rate.)

Investors who own more than three properties may not qualify if it turns out that the developer/freeholder doesn't have to pay, however.

This is mostly good news, however, some of the measures will take up to 18 months to bring into effect.

The Act also 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
• The New Homes Ombudsman

Together these changes mean owners will manage their buildings better, and the home-building industry has the clear, proportionate framework it needs to deliver more, and better, high-quality homes.

Many of the detailed provisions in the Act will be implemented over the next two years through a programme of secondary legislation.

• Paragraph 9 Schedule 8, Building Safety Act 2022, provides: No service charge payable for legal or professional services relating to liability for relevant defects.

In other words, leaseholders should not be expected to pay any ancillary charges for surveys or investigating cladding related detects.

• Building Safety Act: Leaseholder Protections Factsheet

• Building Safety Act Guidance