Protection for leaseholders under the Building Safety Act 2022

On 28th June 2022, the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022 (the Act) came into force.

Following this, further secondary legislation, the Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022, came into force on 21st July 2022 which provides details on how the measures in the Act will work and ensures the full effect of the variety of leaseholder protections.

Qualifying leaseholders living in buildings about 11 metres tall or with at least five storeys will be legally protected from extortionate building safety costs. The Act protects leaseholders from the following:

• Qualifying leaseholders will be protected from the costs associated with the remediation of unsafe cladding; these include costs of interim measures such as waking watches.
• It will be illegal for freeholders to pass on the cost of historical building repair work if they are or are inked to the building’s developer.
• It will be illegal for freeholders to pass on any historical building safety costs to qualifying leaseholders if they pass the wealth test.
• Where a developer cannot be held responsible and the building owner is not required to meet the cost in full, leaseholders with non-cladding related issues will be protected by a costs cap.
• Buyers of new build homes will be able to hold their developer responsible for safety and qualify issues under a new scheme from the New Homes Ombudsman.

Other measures introduced include:

• Powers for the secretary of state to restrict irresponsible developers’ ability to build new homes.
• Extending the building safety levy to be charged on all new residential buildings to fund a scheme to pay for the removal of unsafe cladding.
• Enhanced rights for building owners to bring legal actions against developers, contractors, and manufacturers.

There will also be a tougher approach to regulations for the industry to ensure homes are made safer. This includes:

• A new Building Safety Regulator
• A National Regulator for Construction Products

Law is correct as of 27th July 2022.

Whilst every effort has been taken to ensure that the law in this article is correct, it is intended to give a general overview of the law for educational purposes. You are respectfully reminded that it is not intended to be a substitute for specific legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. No liability is accepted for any error or omission contained herein.

If you need any advice related to the Building Safety Act (2022) mentioned here, please contact our expert team who will be happy to help.