“Inadequate” building safety regime needs urgent reform

Current building safety regulations are inadequate and without urgent reform risk undermining government plans to deliver 1.5m new homes by the end of this Parliament, CILEX has said.

The overarching aims of the Building Safety Act 2022 are to improve the safety of residential and mixed-use developments. Its implementation, however, has “created a minefield for conveyancers” where the building is more than five storeys or 11 metres tall.

Delays and uncertainty around the implementation and interpretation of the regulations, as well as delays caused by the Building Safety Regulator itself have, CILEX said, led to significant practical barriers for conveyancers – indeed, some have stopped advising on affected transactions altogether.

Responding to a House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee inquiry into the effectiveness of building safety regulations and the role of the Building Safety Regulator, CILEX said these problems mean that even those members who want to advise on, or certify compliance with, affected buildings struggle to secure adequate professional indemnity insurance (PII). This is because insurers see unacceptably high risks in lawyers navigating their clients through such a complex regime.

Such exclusions in PII cover, said CILEX, “present a systemic risk to the market”, with conveyancing professionals forced to decline instructions, restricting access to legal support. This in turn delays or prevents the sale and development of affected properties, particularly in the case of multi-unit dwellings, leaving developers and homeowners in limbo.

CILEX called for practical and definitive guidance on legal responsibilities under the Building Safety Act 2022 and related instruments. It wants to see the government formally endorse such guidance to provide confidence to stakeholders, enabling better risk management and, ultimately, greater availability of PII for conveyancers carrying out this work.

Any accompanying regulatory adjustments should be proportionate and risk-based to allow housing developments and transactions to be carried out safely, without unnecessary barriers.

CILEX President Sara Fowler said: “The government has ambitious targets for the provision of new homes but the current regulatory regime around building safety risks inadvertently supressing supply. While it’s vital that we ensure all homes are safe, at present the system is unclear, inflexible and fraught with delays”.

“A lack of PII cover prevents legal professionals from providing the services needed to enable the development and sale of affected homes and a failure to provide definitive guidance on legal responsibilities risks eroding trust in the legal profession to uphold public safety. We would like to see urgent reforms that remove barriers and provide certainty for the sector.”