Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to her Department's Remediation Acceleration Plan, published on 02 December 2024, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of providing support to volunteer directors of Resident Management Companies and Right to Manage Companies in the event of enforcement action being taken at their building.

In accordance with the Regulator’s Code, regulators must carry out their activities in a way that supports those they regulate to comply and grow. This includes making sure they take a proportionate approach to enforcement, and educate those they regulate about their responsibilities.

MHCLG expects regulators to engage with a building’s leaseholders (including any RTMs or RMCs in place) prior to enforcement, to understand what factors are delaying remediation. If regulatory action has escalated to formal enforcement action, this may be because engagement with relevant parties has failed to produce a positive outcome. Under the Housing Act 2004, local authorities also have a duty to take enforcement action where they identify category 1 hazards (the most dangerous level).

This month, MHCLG published remediation enforcement guidance for regulators to support regulators to enforce permanent remediation at unsafe buildings. Annex D of our guidance stresses the importance of regulators taking proportionate regulatory action at leaseholder-managed buildings. We recommend that – in certain cases - non-statutory action to educate RTMs and RMCs about the remediation process and their responsibilities may be the most appropriate and helpful action a regulator can take to get an unsafe building fixed.