Building safety

I cannot claim any expertise on building safety (I recommend Susan Bright’s blog for that purpose), but there has been a flurry of activity in Wales this week, following the publication of the Welsh Building Safety Programme newsletter at the end of March.  We await the Building Safety (Wales) Bill, which will build on the Westminster Building Safety Act 2022, which was promised as part of the WG’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry Report, Phase 2.  It is understood that the Bill will go further than the 2022 Act and “capture all multi-occupied residential buildings in Wales which contain two or more residential units regardless of height” (see this helpful note by Iwan Jenkins at Hugh James solicitors).  On 26th March 2025, the WG issued a consultation on the new building control regime for higher-risk buildings and wider changes to the building regulations in Wales (snappy title), the closing date for responses being 25th May 2025 (so sharpen those pencils).  It is not an easy read and, as I say, I am no expert in this field, and considerable expertise will be needed, and to be acknowledged as such at all levels.  The consultation covers the dutyholders roles and responsibilities, accessible information all in one place, and notes that the WG “intends to introduce a more stringent regulatory regime during design and construction for higher-risk buildings through secondary legislation” (4.1).  As a mere housing lawyer, I have enormous respect for professionals who can get to grips with this stuff, which looks to be rather more complicated than I probably need to understand.  That does raise the question about whether it will be effective, and whether those responsible for its regulation, in building control applications, will have the necessary expertise (and power to stand up to expensive organisations).

What caught the attention of the trade press (£) this week was the creation of the announcement of a new group for residents and leaseholders as part of its building safety regime, allowing individuals to seek support and inform national policy, in collaboration with the Welsh Cladiators (which has FB and X accounts, and have been a campaigning organisation on the cladding and leasehold issues).  This may be largely a sop to the leaseholder community following the “lower than expected” take up of the leaseholder support scheme (just 12 leaseholders have benefited) – the newsletter suggests that low takeup might be explained by the valuation guidance provided by the RICS.  However, we also know that the number of applications was low (22, of which 11 were “eligible” – figures provided to the Local Government and Housing Committee back in January 2024 – see the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee Report on Building Safety in Wales, August 2024), and there has been a less than complimentary report from Audit Wales in 2023, the recommendations of which were accepted by the WG.  There are, according to this note from CABE, 448 buildings in the Welsh Building Safety programme, with “42% are either complete, or work is in progress; 50% are still in the planning stages and 8% either do not require remediation or have not yet had their remediation needs identified”.

Anyway, there is a lot going on in this field, and do follow the links if it is of interest to you.  And do respond to the consultation if it’s your bag.

I am going to take a break next week: Chag Sameach.