Chair of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee asks Secretary of State to address "gaps" in Building Safety Act 2022
The Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, Clive Betts MP, has written to Simon Clarke, the new Secretary of State at the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities LUHC, concerning “perceived gaps” in the Building Safety Act 2022.
The letter invites the Secretary of State to comment on the following areas and provide information on how the Government intends to resolve these issues:
1. Liability of professional freeholders
Through the “waterfall” model of liability established through amendments to the Building Safety Bill earlier this year, professional freeholders are next in line to pay for remediation if the original developer cannot be found. We have been informed that freeholders typically have a 2-3% economic interest in a building and many risk becoming insolvent if assigned liability to fund remediation. We are concerned about delays to remediation works if liable freeholders are unable to fund works.
2. Grant Funding Agreement
It has come to our attention that the Grant Funding Agreement for the Building Safety Fund is not compatible with the Building Safety Act 2022 due to amendments made in early 2022 during the Bill’s passage through Parliament. This again has led to delays to remediation works.
3. The Developer Pledge
While the developer pledge to pay for and carry out remediation and reimburse the public purse for any Government remediation funds is welcome, we note that the pledge is voluntary, with 49 developers signing up so far. We are concerned about delays to remediation where developers have not signed the pledge, leading to possible disputes or confusion about liability.
4. Impact Assessment
It has been brought to our attention that, following significant amendments to the Building Safety Bill, the Government did not conduct an updated impact assessment. In our report Building Safety: Remediation and Funding, we specifically called for an impact assessment to address potential unfairness to buy-to-let landlords, having observed some gaps in the Government’s proposals at the time.
5. Fund for buildings 11-18m in height
To avoid further delays to remediation is it vital that the Government publishes a timetable for the fund for buildings 11-18m in height. Leaseholders of these buildings have been promised that their nightmare is over, but there has been no further information about the fund several months on. This is unacceptable.
Mr Betts said he would appreciate specific information on:
- The Government’s estimate of the number of affected buildings developed by organisations who have not signed the developer’s pledge;
- How the Government intends to hold to account developers who have not signed the pledge, without further burdening freeholders and leaseholders;
- The timetable for the updated Grant Funding Agreement; and
- The timetable for the fund for buildings 11-18m in height.
Mr Betts said: “I congratulate Simon Clarke on being appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
“Building safety and the remediation of historic defects has been a priority topic of scrutiny for the LUHC Committee since the Grenfell fire, including in our building safety and funding report published earlier year.
“Concerns over gaps in the Government’s flagship Building Safety Act have been raised with the LUHC Committee. I hope the Secretary of State will be able to shed some light on these areas and ensure the long overdue progress on these issues, and the lengthy delays to making people’s home safe, is not further prolonged.”
