Building Safety Act 2022

NameUnavailable

hibiscus93 said:

A solicitor (acting on behalf of one of the owners of the flats) asking me, the landlord.

The building is 4 stories high (basement, ground, first and second floor), 4 flats, definitely more than 11 metres.

If 4 storeys it's likely to be under 11m.

eddddy

Hibiscouscous said:

How would I find out the answer to the following question? I am new to this as my mother recently passed so I have had to take over her responsibilities.

 Can you please confirm that the provisions of the Building Safety Act 2022 do not apply to your
property owing to the height, size and number of floors involved.

I'm no expert on this, but my understanding of the Building Safety Act is...

• A landlord/freeholder must provide a landlord certificate within 4 weeks, if a leaseholder requests it

• If the landlord/freeholder fails to provide the landlord certificate within 4 weeks, the landlord/freeholder will have to cover the cost of rectifying any safety defects - the cost cannot be passed on to leaseholders.

... and the request you mention might count as a request for a landlord certificate.



In your position, I would do the following...

• 1) Urgently look to appoint a management company to manage the property on your behalf, and to look after issues like this

• 2) As their first task, tell the management company to provide a landlord certificate to the relevant leaseholder, within the 4 week limit

Or maybe, for the moment,  just find a management company to deal with point 2 - and pass on the cost to the leaseholder as a 'Leasehold Administration Charge'.

hibiscus93

Thank you - the solicitor has replied - You need to ask the question if the building is a qualifying building which, in turn, will then determine if Landlord/Leaseholder Certificates are required

 

I am not in a position to advise you on this.

The building is I believe about 15m tall, and three stories high, with 4 dwellings. So it is under the 18m high limit and under 7 stories however it does have more than two residential dwellings. So I think it does not qualify.

 

MEM62

Hibiscouscous said:

I have no idea - I didn't know they needed to pay!

I am so confused as I have had to take over from my mother and had never done this before.

If this is something that you are struggling to cope with then you might want to save yourself the stress and handover the management of the property to an agent to handle on your behalf. This would also offer you protection from any mistakes that you might make as a result of your lack of experience / expertise in the area.   

eddddy

hibiscus93 said:

Thank you - the solicitor has replied - You need to ask the question if the building is a qualifying building which, in turn, will then determine if Landlord/Leaseholder Certificates are required

 

I am not in a position to advise you on this.

The building is I believe about 15m tall, and three stories high, with 4 dwellings. So it is under the 18m high limit and under 7 stories however it does have more than two residential dwellings. So I think it does not qualify.

 

I think you're saying that your solicitor is saying "I'm not in a position to advise you on this". Is that right?

So I think you need to quickly find somebody who is in a position to advise you on this - typically a building management company, or perhaps a building surveyor.

If you get the answers wrong, it could potentially cost you money.

user1977

eddddy said:

hibiscus93 said:

Thank you - the solicitor has replied - You need to ask the question if the building is a qualifying building which, in turn, will then determine if Landlord/Leaseholder Certificates are required

 

I am not in a position to advise you on this.

The building is I believe about 15m tall, and three stories high, with 4 dwellings. So it is under the 18m high limit and under 7 stories however it does have more than two residential dwellings. So I think it does not qualify. 

I think you're saying that your solicitor is saying "I'm not in a position to advise you on this". Is that right?

I think the OP is referring to the leaseholder's solicitor. Though it's not really a question which any solicitor can answer unless they come round with their measuring tape.