Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how the Building Safety Bill, announced by the Housing Secretary on 5 July will assist leaseholders facing bills for non-cladding defects in high rise flats.

The Building Safety Bill will ensure that those responsible for occupied higher-risk buildings will be required to actively manage building safety risks, evidencing this through the safety case regime overseen by the Building Safety Regulator. This will ensure major fire and structural hazards are effectively and proportionately managed, mitigated and remedied and that effective steps are taken, which take into account safety and cost.

The Bill contains measures to protect leaseholders by providing a legal requirement for building owners to explore alternative ways to meet the costs of remediation works before passing these onto leaseholders, along with evidence that this has been done.

We have been clear that building owners are responsible for ensuring the safety of their residents, that is why we are taking action to extend rights to redress where unacceptable defects have made a dwelling unfit to live in by making changes to the Defective Premises Act 1972. The changes we are making will enhance building owners’ ability to seek compensation for defective work carried out on their buildings.