Building Safety Hub
Supporting building and fire safety excellence in tall residential buildings in England
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A new report published by the HSE brings together the findings on residents’ views, attitudes and behaviours relating to high-rise building safety from two research studies.
These studies were undertaken to ensure that residents’ perspectives are central to
the development of the new Building Safety Regulator (BSR), and aimed to
ensure that residents’ needs and views were considered by providing data directly from
residents; to use the findings to optimise policy, services and communications to
successfully interact with residents.They also aimed to provide baseline data by delivering measures across a range of relevant topics such as feeling of safety, knowledge and understanding of building safety and satisfaction.
BSR is also working to reflect residents’ perspectives in its development in a variety of ways, including a Statutory Residents Panel; engagement with representative bodies of the industry; and a programme of digital user research. Further research projects into the specific needs of residents with disabilities and residents with low proficiency in English language have also been conducted.
- Building Safety Regulator
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The Home Office has published some updated guidance to help dutyholders, issued by the Secretary of State under Article 50 of the FSO, to assist responsible persons in meeting their duties under the FSO.
Find out whether you are a Responsible Person or Duty Holder under the Fire Safety Order and Fire Safety (England) Regulations and what responsibilities you have for fire safety here.
- Building Safety Act
- Dutyholders
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The FCA has confirmed new measures to support leaseholders in the multi-occupancy buildings insurance market.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has today (29th September) issued a press release confirming leasehold buildings insurance reforms.
The FCA’s action follows its review of the multi-occupancy buildings insurance market, which found that leasehold buildings insurance premiums had risen significantly since the Grenfell tragedy and building safety crisis, with leaseholders facing substantially higher costs and poor value, althoug unfhortunately, the evidence gathered wasn’t sufficient to assess whether the relatively recent increase in premium rates is fair and appropriate for the risks being underwritten, due to the complexity of underwriting and risk models within the residential property insurance market
From 31st December 2023, insurance firms will be forced to act in leaseholders’ best interests, treat leaseholders as customers when designing products and will be banned from recommending an insurance policy based on commission or remuneration levels, announced in a statement published this morning.
The FCA’s action follows its review of the multi-occupancy buildings insurance market and its aims to ensure better outcomes for leaseholders in the multi-occupancy building insurance market, and other policy stakeholders in a similar position to leaseholders. The new rules will do this by:
• Increasing transparency for leaseholders. This will make it easier for them to identify and challenge poor practices and incentivising firms to deliver better outcomes.
• Requiring firms to ensure their products are consistent with the needs and interests of leaseholders and other policy stakeholders, are priced in a way that provides fair value and that remuneration practices do not lead to poor outcomes.
Insurers will also be required to ensure that their insurance policies provide fair value to leaseholders and provide important information about their policy and its pricing, including the detail of any commission paid for leaseholders.
Although the FCA is pushing ahead with the rules and guidance broadly as they were in the consultation paper, it has made some amendments to them. These amendments are:
• Clarifying the ‘leaseholder’ definition to set out more clearly that it covers residential leaseholders. This means that the disclosure rules only apply to multioccupancy building insurance policies for residential leaseholders. Firms will not need to provide disclosures intended for commercial leaseholders.
• Including an additional part to the definition of ‘policy stakeholder’ so that it only captures natural persons who are acting outside of their trade or profession. This is to clarify that commercial entities (including commercial leaseholders) will not be considered policy stakeholders.
• Introducing guidance to make clear that the required remuneration disclosure for leaseholders must include all forms of remuneration or financial incentive, including contingent remuneration (payment that depends on a policy being taken out) and other remuneration earned post-contract.
• Making provision in the disclosure rules to allow firms to estimate the premium breakdown at building or dwelling level if they are unable to identify an exact figure.
Following a review into broker remuneration practices, the FCA expects brokers to immediately stop paying commissions to third parties (including property managing agents and freeholders) where they do not have appropriate justification and evidence for doing so in line with FCA rules on fair value.
The FCA will undertake further reviews across various products and will consider the full range of regulatory tools available to it as this work is progressed.
- Building Safety Act
- Leaseholder Protections
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Homes England has updated its guidance on the Cladding Safety Scheme.
The Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) was formally announced under the previous name - Medium Rise Scheme (MRS) in November 2022. The CSS will meet the cost of addressing life safety fire risks associated with cladding on residential buildings over 11m in height (11-18m in London). The GLA will continue to operate the Building Safety Fund for buildings over 18m in height in the Greater London Area.
The new scheme guidance includes:
- Driving the pace of remediation and enforcement
- Developer Pledge
- Consideration of leaseholders and residents throughout the remediation works
- Keeping leaseholders and residents informed
- Fund structure and administration
- The Building Safety Act
- Eligibility: Who can make an application to the CSS?
- Eligibility: Summary
- Social sector applicants
- Social sector applicants: Financial viability applications
- Eligibility: Type of building
- Eligibility: Building height
- Financial support available
- What we will fund
- What we will not fund
- Proportionality and the introduction of PAS 9980:2022
- Cost recovery
- Building Remediation
- Cladding Safety Scheme (11m-18m)
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The Health & Safety Executive has published the charging scheme for the Building Safety Regulator.
This new document is the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) charging scheme from 1 October 2023 (made under the Building Safety (Regulator’s Charges) Regulations 2023).
Applies to: England
Published: September 2023
Last updated: September 2023Building Safety Regulator charging scheme 1 October 2023 (PDF)
This document details BSR's charging scheme for chargeable functions, as defined in the Building Safety (Regulator's Charges) Regulations 2023.
The charging scheme explains:- the chargeable functions
- the trigger for each chargeable activity
- who is required to pay for the chargeable activity
- what the amount payable will be made up of
- the relevant legislation for that activity
This information is supplemented by annexes that explain how charges are calculated, how payments and repayments are processed, and the queries and disputes process.- Building Safety Regulator