What happens if I do not have a ‘qualifying lease’?

If you do not have a qualifying lease, you will not benefit from most of the protections given to qualifying leaseholders by the Building Safety Act 2002.

This means the landlord will be able to pass the cost of fixing your building’s historical safety defects on to you via the service charge, if your lease allows for this.

Exceptions

If the landlord was responsible for safety defects on 14 February 2022 – for example, they were the developer or were associated with the person responsible for the defect, then they cannot pass on safety remediation costs to you.

This is the case whether or not you have a qualifying lease or whether the safety issues are to do with cladding or other defects. If the landlord can claim from the Cladding Safety Scheme or Building Safety Fund to remedy cladding defects you should not, normally, have to pay towards them, even without a qualifying lease.

More information you might find useful

• Do I qualify for protection from paying to fix my building’s safety defects?
• Do I have to pay for safety repairs if my building is over 11 metres high?
• Check if you’ll have to pay to fix safety problems with your building: GOV.UK
• More Frequently Asked Questions on fire safety