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Building Safety Bill proposed


Temp

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djh over on the Green Building Forum posted a link to this commentary on the the proposed Building Safety Bill..

 

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/insight/insight/what-is-in-the-governments-building-safety-bill-seven-key-takeaways-67235

 

It proposes defining who is accountable for safety at various stages and a new regulator that will check project handovers between stages.

 

After construction the owner becomes the accountable person responsible for safety certification.

 

They plan to introduce it for existing buildings. 

 

   

 

 

 

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38 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

Grenfell has also done interesting things to the rates charged for eg PI insurance.

https://www.locktoninternational.com/gb/articles/after-grenfell-how-fire-safety-changing-face-insurance

 

Our insurance premium has double this year for less cover and with caveats, and it seems very common that most architects premiums have increased around the same amount - I'm pretty sure the risks haven't doubled, especially in scotland! really shows how badly the underwriters understand what risk they are insuring...

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11 minutes ago, the_r_sole said:

 

Our insurance premium has double this year for less cover and with caveats, and it seems very common that most architects premiums have increased around the same amount - I'm pretty sure the risks haven't doubled, especially in scotland! really shows how badly the underwriters understand what risk they are insuring...

 

Did any more of your buildings fall down than usual last year ?

 

?

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3 hours ago, Ferdinand said:

This is presumably England only?

 

Charges to leaseholders will be significant - I would say several hundred a year. 

 

Presumably the "Building Owner" will be the freeholder not the leaseholder. Its not clear the freeholder has any mechanism to charge the leaseholder. The ground rent in many cases is fixed. For one flat I know about its fixed at £1 a year following a lease extension in 2013.

 

There is a parliamentary report out..

 

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8244/

 

Although the Government argued that the cost of remediation work should not fall on individual leaseholders in affected private blocks, not all developers/freeholders responded positively to these calls.

 

Quote

The question of who is responsible for paying for remedial works has been described as “a legal quagmire”

 

I would agree with that. Only the government can sort out this legal quagmire. It may require retrospective legislation. The government has always been reluctant to do that though. 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Temp
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45 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

This is not ground rent it is maintenance which will be part of service charges.  All costs are normally passed on to leaseholders

 

 

35 minutes ago, Ferdinand said:

It's actually assessed as a new sort of charge called iirc "Building Safety Charge" or "Building Fire Charge" or something, with more demanding arrangements for requiring payments.

 

I think it will have to be. If the Building Owner is to be given new responsibilities some legislation will be required so he can pass on the costs.

 

In my relatives case the maintenance charge is nothing to do with the Freeholder. Until recently maintenance went into a fund (possibly a trust) managed by a residents association. The things they could collect funds for was limited by wording in the deeds. I don't think the freeholder has any powers to collect "maintenance". Indeed I have no idea how the freeholder pays for insurance given the ground rent for about half the flats is now £1 a year (which he doesn't collect).

 

For another flat the leaseholders are shareholders (£1) in a company set up to administer maintenance.  Again maintenance of that block is nothing to do with the Building freehold owner.  

Edited by Temp
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