Leasehold Question Time: The Building Safety Act
Leasehold Question Time – The Building Safety Act
The Building Safety Act 2021/2022 has been through a number of changes since it was first drafted in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Given that this issue has caused misery to so many leaseholders, we have been following the development of this bill closely, along with building safety and cladding issues more generally.
In February this year we saw a change of tack as the government tabled a number of amendments intended to make the building industry pay for some building safety remediation costs. These amendments now mean that freeholders will meet some of the costs of non-cladding safety issues in buildings over 11m in height and that leaseholders should not pay for cladding costs in buildings over 11m.
The government has also set aside large funds to remediate cladding in buildings of over 18m in height. In its recent amendments, the government has also proposed the removal of the proposed role of the ‘Building Safety Manager’.
As this Act becomes law, we realise that issues concerning building safety have very significant real world economic consequences for thousands of leaseholders, which is why we have chosen to address them in this edition of our Leasehold Question Time.
In this session, hosted by our Senior Partner, Mark Chick, Justin Bates of Landmark Chambers will provide us with an overview and we will answer some frequently asked questions as part of our general discussion.
In recent years, he has given evidence on housing law reform to the All Parliamentary Committees on both Legal Aid and the Private Rented Sector; the Welsh Assembly on the Renting Homes (Wales) Act; and the House of Lords on housing and the Equality Act 2010. He co-drafted the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018 for Karen Buck MP and continues to provide legislative and policy support to the Shadow housing team. He has appeared on various BBC news and current affairs programmes discussing housing law. In 2019/20, he worked on the Right to Manage reform proposals produced by the Law Commission.
Justin is also one of a small number of barristers appointed to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s Panel Counsel in 2019. He is an active supporter of Advocate (the Bar Pro Bono Unit) and, in 2020, was nominated for the “Pro Bono Junior of the Year” award.
He is a director and a founder committee member of the Association of Leasehold Enfranchisement Practitioners (ALEP) the sector body to which all reputable valuers and solicitors working in the field of Leasehold Reform now belong.
Over the past ten years he has developed Bishop & Sewell’s Landlord & Tenant practice to be one of the largest specialist teams in the UK. Under his direction the department has flourished and he now leads a team of specialist solicitors and property experts.
He is a very well-known and highly-regarded specialist in Landlord & Tenant matters. His expertise when it comes to leasehold reform issues is unparalleled, and in 2016 he was awarded Solicitor of the Year at the Enfranchisement and Right To Manage Awards (ERMAs).
Mark is a member of the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal Frequent User Group Panel. His views as a leasehold reform specialist dealing with freehold purchase, lease extension, services charges and landlord & tenant matters can also be followed direct on LinkedIn and Twitter.
