RACR's submission on the draft Building Safety Bill

The Government has proposed a Building Safety Bill that, it claims, is designed to make ‘people safe in their own homes’. Why aren’t people already safe in their own homes, you might ask? Weren’t our homes built in accordance with building regulations that ensured safety standards were met?

Like thousands of other buildings, Canary Riverside was built in accordance with the regulations in force at the time. Those regulations have now changed, and the changes were published in January this year in a ‘consolidated advice’ note by the Government.

The remediation costs associated with achieving the new standards is substantial. The Building Safety Bill would make leaseholders legally responsible for the costs of bringing their homes up to the new standard (and any subsequent revisions, eg, following the outcome of the Grenfell Tower Enquiry) together with the on-going costs associated with maintaining that standard. It proposes a second service charge, and demands made under that charge would be payable within 28 days.

Leaseholders should not be made financially responsible for the consequences of the failure in building regulations. The Government is responsible for building regulations, developers/builders are responsible for adherence to the regulations and various bodies are responsible for certifying compliance with the regulations: they should take responsibility for their failures.

Please read RACR’s submission to Parliament’s ‘call to evidence’ on the draft Bill.