Written questions by Riddell-Carpenter.

Communities and Local Government, whether she plans to review provisions within the Building Safety Act 2022 on removing the leasehold protection provisions for shared ownership leaseholders who staircase to 100% ownership and lose the statutory protections provided in their original lease.

The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them, that the industry contributes to fixing the problem, and that leaseholders are protected in law from crippling bills for historical safety defects. These leaseholder protections came into force on 28 June 2022, with new financial protections for leaseholders in relevant buildings with relevant historical safety defects. Schedule 8, paragraph 6(5) of the Building Safety Act provides that any contributions required towards remediation costs are capped according to the share of the lease the leaseholder owned at the time the lease became qualified for the protections. This position does not change should a shared owner later increase their share by staircasing, including up to 100%. Further information on this can be found in the explanatory notes on the legislation, starting with note 1731: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/notes/division/18/index.htm.

Communities and Local Government, what estimate her Department has made of the potential impact of the time spent by the Building Safety Regulator to (a) determine and (b) issue a decision on an application for a building assessment certificate on costs for accountable persons.

The Building Safety Act 2022 (“the Act”) requires the Principal Accountable Person to apply for a Building Assessment Certificate when directed to do so by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). Under the Act, accountable persons may pass on costs they incur in meeting their building safety obligations to leaseholders via the service charge. The government recognises that there will be costs associated with implementing building safety requirements and considers these to be vital to ensuring fire and structural risks in higher-risk buildings are properly managed to ensure residents are and feel safe in their homes. The assumptions for the Building Assessment Certificate process do not distinguish between "Determine" and "Issue". The Regulator operates independently of MHCLG and the BSR have advised that their initial estimates range from £7,488 to £20,736 per assessment depending on the complexity and quality of the submission. The BSR have stated that they consider it too early to assess how many buildings will fall into each category or whether they will need to update these assumptions over time.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to review the types of building work that can be undertaken through (a) competent person schemes and (b) third party certification schemes.

The Building Safety Regulator is responsible for oversight of the competent person schemes and has committed in its Strategic Plan 2023-2026 to carry out a review of the conditions of authorisation, which must be met by all competent person schemes to ensure they are fit for purpose. In addition, the department is always looking to improve public and building safety and intends to review the operation of competent person schemes to identify whether improvements can be made, working with the Building Safety Regulator. This will include reviewing the types of work that can be carried out under the competent person schemes. We will consider whether and how this review might touch on third party certification schemes.

Communities and Local Government, whether her Department plans to review authorised competent person schemes providers.

The Building Safety Regulator is responsible for oversight of the competent person schemes and has committed in its Strategic Plan 2023-2026 to carry out a review of the conditions of authorisation, which must be met by all competent person schemes to ensure they are fit for purpose. In addition, the department is always looking to improve public and building safety and intends to review the operation of competent person schemes to identify whether improvements can be made, working with the Building Safety Regulator. This will include reviewing the types of work that can be carried out under the competent person schemes. We will consider whether and how this review might touch on third party certification schemes.

Communities and Local Government, what steps the Building Safety Regulator takes to ensure a (a) consistent and (b) transparent approach in determining decisions for building assessment certificate applications.

The Building Safety Regulator is required by Section 81(2) of the Building Safety Act 2022 to assess applications for a building assessment certificate received from principal accountable persons. The Regulator has developed criteria for assessors to use ...

Communities and Local Government, if she will publish (a) the assessment criteria and (b) other relevant documentation used by the Building Safety Regulator when determining decisions for building assessment cert

The Building Safety Regulator is required by Section 81(2) of the Building Safety Act 2022 to assess applications for a building assessment certificate received from principal accountable persons. The Regulator has developed criteria for assessors to use ...

Communities and Local Government, how many building assessment certificate applications had been received by the Building Safety Regulator by 30 June 2024; and how many building safety certificates have been (a)

The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings puts the onus on applicants to demonstrate how they will comply with the Building Regulations. This is a fundamental shift in the approach to building control and regulation, ensuri...

Communities and Local Government, how many applications for (a) higher-risk building work and (b) a stage of higher-risk building work had been received by the Building Safety Regulator by 30 June 2024; and how m

The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings puts the onus on applicants to demonstrate how they will comply with the Building Regulations. This is a fundamental shift in the approach to building control and regulation, ensuri...

Communities and Local Government, how many completion certificate applications for (a) higher-risk building work, (b) a stage of higher-risk work and (c) building work to an existing higher-risk building had been

The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings puts the onus on applicants to demonstrate how they will comply with the Building Regulations. This is a fundamental shift in the approach to building control and regulation, ensuri...

Communities and Local Government, how many applications for building work to an existing higher-risk building had been received by the Building Safety Regulator by 30 June 2024; and how many (a) of those applicat

The new regulatory approach for building control on higher-risk buildings puts the onus on applicants to demonstrate how they will comply with the Building Regulations. This is a fundamental shift in the approach to building control and regulation, ensuri...