To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment has been made of the number of leaseholders who do not qualify for government protection from non-cladding costs because they are a buy to let landlord with more than (a) three, (b) five, (c) 10 and (d) 20 properties.
Answered on
6 June 2022
The leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act apply to people living in their own homes or with up to three UK properties in total. The protections are designed to protect those living in their own homes from unaffordable remediation bills. In recognition of the circumstances of people with small numbers of additional properties, the protections also apply to leaseholders with up to three UK properties in total. The Department does not hold data on leaseholders with more than three properties.
There are still significant protections in place for leaseholders with more than three properties. Where more than three properties are owned, the principal home always qualifies for the protections. All leaseholders will be protected from all historical building safety remediation costs where their building owner or landlord is – or is connected to – the developer. Where developers have signed up to our developer pledge to fix their own buildings, this will benefit all leaseholders in the building. Leaseholders with more than three properties will also benefit from grant funding for the removal of unsafe cladding. Further, the leaseholder protections measures will drive enhanced proportionality, eliminating unnecessary work and bringing down remediation costs; this will also benefit all leaseholders.