Building safety

Building safety

The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA 2022) introduced fundamental reforms to the law and regulation of building safety, which seek to ‘secure the safety of people in or about buildings and improve the standard of buildings’.

BSA 2022 includes extensive provisions concerning the relationships between leaseholders and landlords, and their respective duties and liabilities in relation to building safety matters. This includes provisions intended to protect certain leaseholders of ‘relevant buildings’ from the costs of rectifying certain historic defects, and for the recovery of those amounts from landlords. See Practice Notes:

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Building Safety Act 2022—landlord and tenant issues
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Building Safety Act 2022—cases tracker
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Building Safety Act 2022—key provisions and issues
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Building Safety Act 2022—key issues for property practitioners
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How to serve notice requesting a Building Safety Act 2022 leaseholder deed of certificate
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How to serve a Building Safety Act 2022 leaseholder deed of certificate
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Property Disputes analysis: These appeals (heard together) concerned two applications for rent repayment orders against landlords who had each been managing a house in multiple occupation (HMO) without a licence. Both applications were dismissed as out of time, with this being upheld on appeal. In deciding the appeal, the Upper Tribunal (UT) had to decide how the expression ‘in the period of 12 months ending with the day on which the application is made’ was to be construed. In so doing, the judge considered the leading authorities on the construction of time periods, before finding these did not cover the statutory language used. It is a useful reminder to all practitioners that a time period can be shorter than it first appears. The judge also had to decide at what point in time a defence under section 72 of the Housing Act 2004 (HA 2004) is deemed to arise for the purpose of calculating the time period. Written by Joseph Bunting and Timothy Foot, barristers, Maitland Chambers, London.

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