Building Safety Act 2022 – Key remedies following the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

Some of the most powerful parts of the Building Safety Act 2022 – the powers in relation to defects in buildings above certain heights – have been amended by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, enacted just before the general election.

The Remedies

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced four key remedies for remedying defects in buildings. Three of these were limited to ‘relevant defects’ in ‘relevant buildings’. A relevant defect is (principally) anything done, or not done, to a building in the thirty years up to 28 June 2022 which caused a risk of the spread of fire or collapse the building (or part of it). Relevant buildings are buildings at least 11 metres or five storeys high, with at least two residential units.

The four key remedies were:

1. Building liability orders, which can order that certain companies or partnerships are jointly liable for liabilities relating to for relevant defects, liabilities under the Defective Premises Act 1972, or liabilities under section 38 of the Building Act 1984 (i.e. breach of building regulations)
2. Remediation orders, which can order landlords to remedy relevant defects in relevant buildings
3. Remediation contribution orders, which can order landlords, developers of buildings, or people associated with them to pay toward the cost of remedying relevant defects in relevant buildings
4. Section 125 orders, which can order that where a landlord of a building with relevant defects is insolvent, certain bodies associated the landlord must pay money to the landlord so that the insolvent landlord can then meet the cost of remedying defects.

The Amendments

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 introduces three key changes to these remedies:

1. Section 125 orders have been repealed: The explanatory notes do not explain why they have been repealed (the Act was enacted in a hurry, before the general election). In practice, where you could have used a section 125 order, you are likely to be able to either use a remediation contribution order or building liability order, so the repeal of section 125 orders is unlikely to change much
2. Recovery of legal costs: There are further amendments addressing a problem with the drafting of the Building Safety Act 2022 which prevented residents’ management companies and ‘right to manage’ companies from recovering the legal costs of applying for remediation orders and remediation contribution orders through service charges. This was restricting residents’ ability to bring claims and has now been remedied
3. Introduction of the concept of “relevant steps”: This is the most significant one, introducing  the concept of ‘relevant steps’. A relevant step is a step taken to:

1. prevent or reduce the likelihood of fire or collapse of the building (or part of it),
2. reduce the severity of an incident, or
3. prevent or reduce harm from an incident.

This goes beyond just fixing a defect. Installing sprinkler systems or paying for a ‘waking watch’ might be relevant steps. Remediation orders have been extended to include relevant steps, and remediation contribution orders have been extended to include the cost of relevant steps.

The first two of these changes are in force from 24 July 2024. While regulations have not yet been made to bring the introduction of relevant steps into force, in practice, tribunals appear to be including relevant steps in remediation orders and remediation contribution orders, through the development of case law instead.

Final thoughts

The introduction of relevant steps, and changes to allow recovery of legal costs by residents, are likely to increase the number of claims for remediation orders and remediation contribution orders in particular. As more and more cases are decided, these remedies are likely to remain an important part of the building safety landscape.

If you have any questions about this article or any aspect of the Building Safety Act then please do get in touch via your usual contact or emailing info@ts-p.co.uk.