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Government publishes much-anticipated Building Safety Bill
The government has published its Building Safety Bill nearly a year after a draft version was first made public.
Key proposals in the bill, which was officially revealed on Monday afternoon, include establishing a Building Safety Regulator, introducing building safety managers for all high-rises and requiring developers to sign up to the New Homes Ombudsman scheme.
It includes other measures from the draft bill, such as the introduction of a levy for developers, with the proceeds going to fixing historical fire safety issues; the strengthening of enforcement against stakeholders that fail to comply with new regulations; and the removal of the democratic filter for residents who want to raise concerns about living conditions with the Housing Ombudsman.
The bill, which forms part of the government’s legislative response to the Grenfell Tower fire, must now make its way through both the House of Commons and House of Lords before becoming law.
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Hundreds of dangerous buildings to miss out on chance to sue developer after building safety changesThe government does not expect the passage of the bill to take fewer than nine months, but has said establishing the new regulator will happen within the first 12 months after gaining royal assent.
Housing secretary Robert Jenrick said the bill would ensure “high standards of safety for people’s homes” and would be a “proportionate regime” ensuring that buildings in need of remediation would be brought up to an acceptable standard.
This is the second significant piece of building safety legislation to go through parliament in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. The Fire Safety Bill was introduced earlier this year.
That piece of legislation went between the Lords and the Commons a number of times as peers and MPs could not agree on whether or not to prevent leaseholders having to cover costs.
It was eventually passed by parliament in April.
The Housing, Communities and Local Government committee conducted pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill earlier this year, in which it called on the government to provide more detail in the final draft of the bill. It also urged the government to require building safety managers to be subject to national accreditation on regulation standards.
The bill follows on from Dame Judith Hackitt’s independent review of building regulations and fire safety, which was published in May 2018.
Commenting on the bill’s publication, Dame Judith said: “I am delighted that we have reached this important milestone for the Building Safety Bill. It is vital that we focus on getting the system right for the future and set new standards for building safety.”
Giles Grover, spokesperson for the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, said leaseholders face a “David and Goliath battle” against well-funded developers if they are to take legal action under the new policy.
He said: “During the recent Fire Safety Bill ping-pong, the repeated response was that the Building Safety Bill is the place where the ‘who pays’ argument should be focused. Now it seems they have cynically devised a means of divesting themselves from that responsibility.”
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