This month's Queen's Speech, laying out the legislative
agenda for the upcoming Parliamentary session, included the
Building Safety Bill, the government's response to the enquiry
into the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. A draft of this Bill was
originally published in July 2020, but that draft has been
undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny prior to being introduced to
Parliament this year. We can expect further debate regarding the
level of financial burden that leaseholders are expected to
shoulder for the cost of removing unsafe cladding on high-rise
residential apartments, which may cause delay to the passage of the
Bill. The new building safety regime is expected to come into force
in 2023, and given the long lead in times for construction projects
and the fact that we are already half way through 2021, we would
urge clients to engage early with their professional advisers on
this area for projects in the pipeline.
