Survey shows little has changed for leaseholders one year after the Building Safety Act

One year after the Government brought in new legislation to protect leaseholders from costs, a new survey shows that little has changed on the ground for the majority impacted by the building safety crisis.

A significant number of leaseholders are still trapped in unsafe homes and still unable to sell.

The survey shows that the vast majority of the almost 800 leaseholders surveyed are still trapped, either because they are still living in an unsafe building not knowing when remediation will start, or because they are unable to sell or remortgage.

Over half of those surveyed said that their building is over 18m, with almost a third reporting a building height of 11-18m.

Most leaseholders have not even tried to sell or remortgage because the mortgage lending and valuation process for cladding-affected flats is not fit for purpose.

The overwhelming majority of leaseholders surveyed by the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign who have tried to remortgage or sell have been unable to do so.

As a result, the campaign has now written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities of the United Kingdom, highlighting the lack of progress.

In the letter, campaigners state: “Six years after Grenfell, and over one year after you changed the law and told MPs and the public that leaseholders were now protected, hardly anything has changed on the ground.

“Our recent survey has only confirmed that the vast majority of us are still trapped in unsafe homes, still unable to sell, still without any clue when this nightmare will end. We are still going to have to pay to fix issues we didn’t create and some people, who have been horribly labelled as ‘non-qualifying’ leaseholders, face ruinous bills because the Government has decided some leaseholders are more innocent than others.

“Nowhere near enough has been done to hold the companies that caused this mess to account despite your promises this would happen. You reset the Government’s approach to building safety in January 2022. Unfortunately, that is not delivering results, and buildings are not being made safe at any discernible pace.

“We all know that the building safety crisis is complex; however, it is solvable if the political will is there. You have acknowledged the force of the arguments we have made; therefore, we need and expect to see material improvements to your current approach to building safety.”

Over 60% of leaseholders reported that building safety issues have cost them more than £2,500 to date, with 11% of leaseholders surveyed reporting having spent more than £10,000.

The survey also shows that the building safety crisis has influenced the voting intentions of leaseholders, with 36% saying the crisis has changed the way they will vote at the next election.

When asked if the current national government had helped to resolve their building safety issues, 69% of those surveyed gave the Government a score of 4 or lower on a scale of 1 to 10 (with 1 being the lowest score).

Leaseholders are also unsure what opposition parties would do to solve the building safety crisis, with only 11% of those surveyed saying they know what the Labour Party’s plans are, while only 5% know the Liberal Democrats’ plans.

You can see more results from the survey here: EOCS Leaseholder Survey 2023.