Draft regulations have been published to use powers in the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) to make amendments to the current leaseholder protection regulations to tackle issues highlighted in regards to the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments report as well as two Judicial Review applications against the regulations and produce recommendations including clarifications to the current leaseholder protection regulations to guarantee they have effect in the way they were initially intended.
The purpose of these regulations is to amend last year’s Building Safety regulations.
What is the Building Safety Act?
Last year the Building Safety Act came into law and provided many qualifying leaseholders with protection from having to pay for unfair bills in order to make their homes safe.
Instead, the owners of the property are responsible for any historical safety defects, and they will be legally required to pay for any crucial repairs.
This significant piece of legislation updates and amends a number of other laws, including, the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1985, the Defective Premises Act of 1972, and the Building Act 1984.
Following the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster the overall aim of the Act is to “create lasting generational change” in how high-risk and residential buildings are constructed and maintained as well as protect the rights of leaseholders. You can read our previous blog on the Act here.
What are the draft regulations?
Below we have outlined the draft regulations:
- “insert into the interpretation regulation a definition of ‘current landlord’ and ‘named manager’, and defines ‘shared ownership lease’ which is the same definition used for certain purposes in the BSA 2022
- add the Homes and Communities Agency, established by the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008, to the list of interested persons who may apply for a remediation order under BSA 2022, s 123
- amend regulations 3, 4 and 5 which make provision for recovery of amounts as between landlords under various paragraphs of BSA 2022, Sch 8
- amend regulation 3 which is concerned with recovery of amounts from other landlords under BSA 2022, Sch 8, para 2
- amend regulation 4 which is concerned with recovery of amounts from other landlords under BSA 2022, Sch 8, para 3
- amend regulation 5 which is concerned with recovery of amounts from other landlords under other provisions of BSA 2022,Sch 8, with chances to the process for recovery and the outcome of an appeal
- amend regulation 6 by adding a new paragraph requiring a landlord, RMC, RTM company or named manager who has received a leaseholder certificate to share it with the landlord who is carrying out the repairs
The Building Safety (Leaseholder Protections) (England) Regulations 2022, SI 2022/711 are also amended to:
- include a definition of ‘RMC’ which is the same as in the affirmative regulations, substitute the definition of ‘current landlord’, and define ‘named manager’ to align with that in SI 2022/859
- amend regulation 6 which is concerned with the landlord’s certificate
- amend regulation 10 which is concerned with the application of service charge restrictions to non-residential leases to make technical changes
- replace Schedule 1, which includes an amended landlord’s certificate which reflects changes made by these Regulations”
How can we help?
James Coningsby is a Partner in our expert Commercial Property team.
If you require any advice in relation to the subjects discussed in this article, please do not hesitate to contact a member of our expert Commercial Property team in Derby, Leicester or Nottingham on 0800 024 1976 or via our online enquiry form.
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