Leaseholder protections came into force on 28 June 2022. From that date, for buildings over 11 metres/five storeys in height, building owners and developers are now the first port of call to pay for the remediation of historical building safety defects.
Secondary legislation came into force on 21 June, giving full effect to the leaseholder protection provisions and enabling leaseholders and building owners to establish who is responsible for funding remediation, ensuring necessary remediation work can start.
Qualifying leaseholders should not pay outstanding invoices for historical building safety remediation costs that were issued prior to 28 June 2022. These leaseholders are now protected from all cladding-related building safety costs and most non-cladding costs. This means existing invoices are, in most cases, no longer valid and any landlord or agent who seeks to enforce them could be committing a criminal offence.
Importantly, landlords must provide a completed landlord certificate demonstrating that they can pass on costs to leaseholders, before they can do so, or demonstrate that the costs do not relate to works covered by the Building Safety Act 2022. Leaseholders should also confirm their qualifying status and new legal rights by completing a Deed of Certificate that they must provide to their landlord.
You are a qualifying leaseholder if your property is in a building above 11 metres (or 5 storeys) and on 14 February 2022:
- your property was your main home, meaning it was the home where you spent most of your time; or
- you owned no more than three dwellings in the United Kingdom in total – dwellings outside England will not be covered by, or count towards, leaseholder protections.
You are also a qualifying leaseholder if you have bought your property since 14 February 2022 but either of the two points above was true for the property on that date.
Visit the leaseholder protections page for more information.
To help you understand your rights and whether you qualify for the protections, the Government has provided a Leaseholder Protections Checker and detailed guidance. The Checker uses information from leaseholders to work out the maximum amount they may be charged under the new protections in the Building Safety Act.
More information you might find useful:
- What is the Building Safety Fund?
- What is a “qualifying leaseholder” for leaseholder protections?
- As an economic actor, will the Building Safety Fund be capped for my building?
- What are the leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act 2022?
- More Frequently Asked Questions on Fire safety
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