Francis Ho writes about the Building Safety Levy in Estates Gazette
min readThe Building Safety Levy introduces an additional charge on residential development in England to help meet the cost of remedying buildings affected by building safety defects.
The levy generally applies to developments providing at least 10 dwellings or 30 bedspaces in purpose-built student accommodation, although exemptions apply to specified forms of affordable and specialist housing. Liability ordinarily falls on the client named in the building control application.
Rates vary between local authority areas and are calculated by reference to gross internal area. Payment will be required before building control sign-off or occupation, creating potentially significant consequences for completion, financing and the occupation of higher-risk buildings.
Francis Ho, Partner in our Construction, Engineering & Projects team, writes in Estates Gazette:
When the then-housing secretary announced it in February 2021, the levy was to only apply to tall residential buildings.
It was expanded to cover all residential development (not least because building lower would have been an obvious means of avoidance). It was meant to come into effect last year but deferred to give the industry, local authorities and others more time to get ready.
Read the full article in Estates Gazette here.
