Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of time taken for the Building Safety Regulator to process building assessment certificate applications; and what steps his Department is taking to improve those times.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
As yet, no building assessment certification applications have been submitted or assessed. From April, the Building Safety Regulator will begin the process of requesting building assessment certificate applications to be submitted.
The department has been working closely with the Regulator to ensure the processes are in place so that building assessment certificate applications can be processed in a timely manner.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the three properties threshold for qualifying lease status outlined in the Building Safety Act 2022 on the private rented sector.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Act introduced leaseholder protections to ensure leaseholders are safe in their buildings. A threshold which set a balance between those purchasing properties primarily to live in and those who have made commercial or investment decisions, whether freeholders or leaseholders, was therefore needed.
There are protections in place for leaseholders who do not qualify. Building owners and landlords who built defective buildings of at least 11m or at least five storeys, or are associated with those responsible, must pay to remedy historical safety defects for both cladding and non-cladding defects. The principal residence of all leaseholders in relevant buildings will qualify for the protections. In addition, remediation contribution orders and the Defective Premises Act provide routes for leaseholders in relevant buildings to recover remediation costs from those responsible, whatever their qualifying status.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what estimate his Department has made of the number of leaseholders that do not meet the criteria for qualifying lease threshold because they own more than three properties.
Answered by Lee Rowley - Minister of State (Minister for Housing)
The Building Safety Act introduced leaseholder protections to ensure leaseholders are safe in their buildings. A threshold which set a balance between those purchasing properties primarily to live in and those who have made commercial or investment decisions, whether freeholders or leaseholders, was therefore needed.
There are protections in place for leaseholders who do not qualify. Building owners and landlords who built defective buildings of at least 11m or at least five storeys, or are associated with those responsible, must pay to remedy historical safety defects for both cladding and non-cladding defects. The principal residence of all leaseholders in relevant buildings will qualify for the protections. In addition, remediation contribution orders and the Defective Premises Act provide routes for leaseholders in relevant buildings to recover remediation costs from those responsible, whatever their qualifying status.