Opening snapshot
It has been a busy few weeks. The Building Safety Levy is live, second staircases are now mandatory for new tall blocks, and the government has finally tabled its long-promised remediation bill. The common thread for anyone with residents to look after: increasing duties to tell people what is happening, and when.
Regulatory update
The big news is the Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill, introduced to Parliament on 14 October. It creates a legal duty on those responsible to identify, assess and fix unsafe cladding without delay, a new register for medium-rise residential buildings, and Tribunal fines of up to £500,000 for ignoring remediation orders. Crucially for inhouse communications and resident engagement teams, where an assessment recommends work, responsible entities will have to share a remediation plan with residents, setting out steps and timescales.
Elsewhere, the Building Safety Levy came into force on 1 October and the second staircase requirement for new residential buildings with a top storey of 18m or more took effect on 30 September.
On the same day as the new bill, the Building Safety Regulator launched a free online toolkit for principal accountable persons, including guidance on engaging residents and free training for resident directors.
Enforcement and decisions
The courts and Tribunal continue to back those footing the bill for remediation. In the Hallings Wharf case, the First-tier Tribunal made a £3.68m remediation contribution order against a company associated with an insolvent developer, holding that works within a band of reasonable responses are recoverable even if a cheaper fix existed.
In the Technology and Construction Court, Crest Nicholson v Ardmore, now widely analysed as the first fully contested building liability order judgment, confirms group companies can be pulled in before liability is finally settled. The message for residents is a positive one: insolvency higher up the chain is becoming a weaker reason for works to stall.
In practice
If you manage buildings affected by unsafe cladding, now is the time to get your resident communication plan in shape. The new bill points firmly towards a world where published timelines, plain-English explanations and regular progress updates are a legal expectation rather than good manners. For developers, the levy and second staircase rules will shape scheme viability and design, and residents and neighbours will notice changes. Explaining why designs have changed, and what that means for safety, will help avoid confusion during consultation. Housing associations and councils should also check their resident engagement strategies against the new regulator toolkit, which sets a useful benchmark for good practice.
One to watch
Keep an eye on the Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill as it moves through Parliament. The detail of what a resident remediation plan must contain, how often it must be updated and how it should be shared will matter enormously for communications teams. We will publish our own guide later in the year. The government still expects that every building over 11m with unsafe cladding will be fixed, or have a clear completion date, by the end of 2029.
As ever, if any of this raises questions about how you communicate with stakeholders in your projects or portfolio, please do get in touch.
The Keeble Brown team
Disclaimer: This newsletter is produced for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal or business advice. Whilst we take care to ensure accuracy, the building safety regulatory landscape changes rapidly and readers should not act on the contents of this newsletter without taking specific legal or professional advice appropriate to their circumstances. Keeble Brown accepts no liability for any loss arising from reliance on the information contained herein. If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised, please contact us directly.
