High-Rise & Building Safety Act.

It depends on the building, the lender, and the current remediation status. Following significant disruption after Grenfell, mortgage lending on affected buildings has improved considerably as remediation programmes have progressed and government schemes have provided more certainty. Many lenders will now lend on buildings where: the developer has signed a remediation contract; the building is enrolled in a government remediation scheme; or an EWS1 form confirms the external wall system is safe. Buildings where remediation is unresolved, where the responsible party is disputed, or where no clear funding plan exists remain difficult to mortgage. The position changes regularly as remediation programmes advance — your mortgage broker and solicitor can advise on the current position for a specific building.

The Building Safety Act 2022 limits the service charges that can be levied on qualifying leaseholders in relation to building safety defects. Cladding remediation costs cannot be passed to qualifying leaseholders at all. Non-cladding building safety costs can only be passed to leaseholders where the landlord or associated developer does not meet the wealth threshold that would require them to fund the works themselves. Where costs are passed, they are subject to a cap — currently £15,000 in London and £10,000 outside London over a five-year period. Non-qualifying leaseholders — for example, those who own the property as a buy-to-let investment and did not live there on 14 February 2022 — do not benefit from the same caps and protections.

Where a building's fire safety status is unclear — because surveys have not been completed, assessments are ongoing, or there is a dispute between the freeholder and developer about who is responsible — transactions in that building can stall. Buyers' solicitors are required to make enquiries about building safety and report the position to their clients and mortgage lenders. Lenders may decline to lend until the remediation position is clearer. Buyers may be unwilling to proceed without certainty about future cost exposure. In some cases, specialist indemnity insurance is available to bridge gaps in documentation, but it is not always appropriate or available. Sellers in this position should take advice early — understanding the building's remediation status before marketing is the most effective way to avoid transaction delays.

A building safety certificate — formally called a building assessment certificate — is issued by the Building Safety Regulator and confirms that a higher-risk building is being managed safely and in compliance with the Building Safety Act. Higher-risk buildings are those over 18 metres or seven storeys containing at least two residential units. The certificate regime is separate from the EWS1 form process used by lenders. Buildings between 11 and 18 metres are not subject to the building assessment certificate regime but are still caught by the leaseholder protection provisions of the Act. The Building Safety Regulator is working through a programme of registrations and assessments — most taller residential buildings are now registered but not all have been assessed.

A building safety manager is a person appointed by the accountable person — the entity responsible for a higher-risk building — to manage building safety on a day-to-day basis under the Building Safety Act 2022. Their role includes maintaining the building's safety case, managing the golden thread of information about the building's construction and safety measures, liaising with the Building Safety Regulator, and ensuring that residents can raise safety concerns. The building safety manager role applies to higher-risk buildings — those over 18 metres or seven storeys with at least two residential units. For leaseholders in these buildings, knowing who the building safety manager is and how to contact them is a practical step — they are the point of contact for safety concerns and have statutory obligations to residents.

A landlord's certificate is a document introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 that a landlord must provide to a leaseholder on request, or when making a service charge demand that includes building safety costs. It sets out information about the building — its height, the nature of any defects, what remediation is planned, who is responsible for funding it, and whether the landlord or developer falls within the group that must bear the costs. The certificate is central to determining what costs can lawfully be passed to leaseholders. In a property transaction, buyers' solicitors will review the landlord's certificate as part of due diligence — it is one of the key documents that reveals the building's remediation status and potential future cost exposure.

A leaseholder deed of certificate is a document completed by the leaseholder — not the landlord — confirming their qualifying status under the Building Safety Act 2022. It records whether the leaseholder owned the property as their main home on 14 February 2022, and how many other properties they owned in the UK at that date. This information determines whether the leaseholder qualifies for the protections against being charged for building safety remediation costs. When selling a qualifying flat in an affected building, the seller should complete a leaseholder deed of certificate and pass it to the buyer — it transfers with the property and protects future owners. Solicitors acting on affected building transactions now treat this as a standard part of the conveyancing process.

An EWS1 (External Wall System) form is an assessment completed by a qualified professional confirming the fire safety status of a building's external wall system — most commonly in relation to cladding. It was introduced in 2019 in response to concerns following the Grenfell Tower fire. Whether an EWS1 is required depends on the individual lender's policy — many lenders have updated their requirements following government guidance, and some no longer require one for buildings of certain heights or construction types. However, some lenders continue to require EWS1 forms, particularly for taller buildings or those with combustible cladding. Whether an EWS1 will be required on a specific transaction depends on the building, the lender, and current industry guidance — your solicitor and mortgage broker can advise.

The Building Safety Act 2022 is a wide-ranging piece of legislation introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower fire, designed to improve safety standards in high-rise residential buildings and protect leaseholders from bearing the cost of remedying historical fire safety defects. For buyers and sellers of flats, it matters because it introduced new legal documents — landlord's certificates and leaseholder deeds of certificate — that are now required in transactions involving buildings over 11 metres or five storeys. It also significantly restricts the ability of freeholders and developers to pass the cost of fire safety remediation to qualifying leaseholders. Any flat transaction in a building of this height now involves additional legal checks and documentation that did not exist before 2022.

The Developer Remediation Contract is an agreement between the government and major residential developers under which developers commit to funding the remediation of buildings they built or developed that have fire safety defects. Over 50 developers have signed the contract, covering thousands of buildings across England. Where a building is covered by a signed developer remediation contract, leaseholders should not face remediation costs, and lenders are generally more willing to lend. Whether a specific building is covered depends on whether its developer signed the contract and whether the building meets the qualifying criteria. The government maintains a public list of developers who have signed — your solicitor can check whether a specific building is covered as part of the transaction enquiries.

The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced significant protections for qualifying leaseholders against being charged for the cost of remediating historical building safety defects. Qualifying leaseholders — broadly, those who own a long lease on a property that was their main home, or who own no more than three properties in the UK — cannot be charged for remediation of cladding defects at all. For non-cladding defects, freeholders and developers with a net worth over £2 million linked to the building cannot pass costs to qualifying leaseholders. Developers who built the defective buildings are expected to fund remediation directly. The protections are enforced through the First-tier Tribunal in England and equivalent bodies in Wales. The leaseholder deed of certificate is the document that establishes qualifying status.

Being unable to sell because your flat is unmortgageable due to building safety issues is a genuinely difficult position — and one affecting thousands of leaseholders. The first step is to understand your building's specific status: is remediation planned, funded, and by whom? Is the building enrolled in a government scheme or covered by a developer remediation contract? Is the building's managing agent or residents' management company pursuing the responsible parties? If remediation is funded and underway, the position may improve without you needing to act. If costs are being wrongly passed to you, the leaseholder protection provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022 provide legal remedies through the tribunal. If you are considering selling to a cash buyer at a discount, taking legal advice on the implications first is essential.