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Welcome to our Building Safety newsletter - designed to keep you informed on the progress of the Building Safety Programme.
You can also follow us on X / Twitter using @WGCommunities
We welcome the appointment of Jayne Bryant MS as Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government.
The new Cabinet Secretary will be joining our Strategic Stakeholder Group meeting in early October to discuss and understand the priorities of the members.
The Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 was a tragic event that claimed the lives of 72 people and left hundreds more homeless. In the aftermath of the fire, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was launched, led by Sir Martin Moore-Bick.
Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was concerned with events on the night of the fire, and the response to it; the report was published in October 2019.
Phase 2 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry has sought to examine the underlying causes of the fire, with findings and recommendations published on 04 September 2024.
The Welsh Government welcomes the publication of the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 report, and will be carefully considering its findings and recommendations. You can access the full report here: Publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry phase 2 report - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Building Safety Reform Team continues its work in developing the policy for the proposed Building Safety (Wales) Bill. An area of current focus is the challenges faced by local authorities in their role as the regulator of the new regime. We will be working closely with local authorities to consider the skills, experience and qualifications required to fulfil their new functions.
During September and October, the team will be holding a series of webinars to provide a high-level overview of the proposed Building Safety (Wales) Bill. These sessions will be used to engage with leaseholders, residents, managing agents, third sector and voluntary organisations, giving attendees an opportunity to offer views and ask questions.
If you would like to take part in one of these sessions, please contact us at buildingsafety@gov.wales
The Joint Inspection Team for Building Safety in Wales is now operational and has undertaken its first inspection.
The Joint Inspection Team will act in an advisory capacity - providing advice and making recommendations to existing enforcement authorities, including real-time reporting on issues of significant concern, detailed reports to enforcement authorities, post-inspection meetings and reviews with the Local Authority and relevant Fire and Rescue Service.
The team is multi-disciplinary, combining the skills and knowledge of building safety and fire safety professionals and consists of a Strategic Lead and four Principal Advisers covering:
- Building Control
- Environmental Health
- Fire and Rescue
- Fire Engineering
Further information on the JIT can be found on its website:
www.jit.wales; or www.jit.cymru, e-mail info@jit.wales
Every residential building over 11 metres (which is typically five storeys or more) has a route to be made as fire safe as possible. Leaseholders will not have to pay for these fire safety works, which are needed due to the way the building was constructed.
We encourage leaseholders to make sure their Responsible Person (usually the Managing Agent) has submitted an Expression of Interest to the Welsh Government. This will allow us to undertake survey work to understand if there are internal and external fire safety defects present - at no cost to leaseholders.
Further information regarding the Welsh Building Safety Fund can be accessed here: https://gov.wales/welsh-building-safety-fund-expression-interest-guidance
We are working closely with managing agents and developers to identify the fire safety works needed.
Blocks of apartments are complex buildings and identifying if there are any potential fire safety risks and the solutions to remediating them is a complicated process. This investigation and planning process is essential to ensure the right solutions are being identified.
Please be assured that even if you are not seeing people in hard hats doing works, we are working closely with managing agents and developers to identify exactly what is needed and get contractors to site as quickly as possible.
For the orphan buildings, these are buildings where the developer is unknown, has ceased trading or the building was developed over 30 years ago and so is out of scope for the Developers’ contract. We are engaged with the managing agents and progressing the fire safety assessments with them. These assessments as well as the fire safety works in orphan buildings will be funded by Welsh Government.
We are progressing buildings constructed by smaller developers in the same way as orphan buildings. Please don’t be concerned if you live in a building constructed by a smaller developer as we will ensure the required assessments are undertaken and works are completed alongside any conversations we are having with the developer.
If you live in a building where the works are being taken forward by one of the large developers, we are meeting with them quarterly to monitor progress and the next steps.
We are pleased to announce the developer Watkin Jones has signed the Welsh Government’s legally binding contract – solidifying their commitment to remediate fire safety issues for which they are responsible. All 12 large developers are now in contract with Welsh Government to remediate their buildings.
We currently have 407 buildings in the Welsh Building Safety Programme. Of the 407 buildings, 238 are private tenure buildings and 169 social buildings.
Work has completed (subject to final sign off) on 67 buildings. Work has started on 103 buildings. Plans are in development for a further 151 buildings. We have been informed that 7 buildings do not require any fire safety works.
We are working with the remaining 79 buildings to identify any remediation needs.
These figures are subject to change as further buildings are identified, and more information is gathered.
We encourage leaseholders and residents to contact their managing agent for the latest progress update on their building, or as mentioned above to ensure they have submitted an Expression of Interest to the Welsh Government.
The team have been working collaboratively with Propertymark to produce a Building Safety Factsheet for Wales with the aim of explaining key aspects of both Building Safety Reform and Remediation in Wales, specifically the difference in the law.
We are working towards this factsheet being available for Autumn 2024.
Propertymark is the leading membership body for the property agents, setting higher standards and providing guidance, advice and research as well as a comprehensive programme of workshops, conferences and events. If you would like to find out more about what Propertymark can offer, please visit here: The professional body for the property sector | Propertymark
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The Welsh Government continues to work with the Home Office and the National Fire Chiefs Council on a new version of the guidance - Fire Safety in Purpose-Built Blocks of Flats.
This new guidance will reflect the advances in fire safety knowledge and practice, including the lessons of the Grenfell Tower fire. We will provide a summary and a link for this guidance when it is available.
We have already published guidance for small and non-complex blocks of flats. The guidance is available here.
A consultation on the second phase of the new building control regime in Wales will be launched late 2024.
The consultation will cover several topics, including the following:
- Dutyholder roles (Principal Designer, Principal Contractor, Client, Designer and Contractor)
- Gateways (hard stops in the design & construction process)
- Golden thread of information
- Mandatory occurrence reporting (in the design & construction phase)
- Compliance and Stop notices
The consultation will be available online and in printed format and is an opportunity for stakeholders to make their views known. The Welsh Government strongly recommends participation by all interested parties.
The Building Safety Programme is supported by an advisory group - the Building Safety Strategic Stakeholder Group. It is an independent advisory group with representatives from different sectors affected by fire safety issues, including leaseholders and residents, managing agents, landlords, developers, lenders, insurers, conveyancers, building control, architects, and the Fire and Rescue Service.
The Group has a dual role in providing advice on new policy being developed, bringing their knowledge and operational expertise to challenge and scrutinise our proposals to ensure these are practicable and achievable.
The Group members are also required to feedback to the Programme their lived experiences and seek solutions of other members about the different problems they face.
If you would like more information on the representative members of the group, please contact us at buildingsafety@gov.wales
 Legal Support for Leaseholders
The Welsh Government is committed to address fire safety issues in medium and high-rise buildings here in Wales (these are typically buildings over five storeys high). As part of the support being offered to leaseholders, or their representatives, the Leaseholder Legal Advisory Scheme launched in May 2024. This Scheme provides legal advice specifically for fire safety related matters.
There may, however, be times where leaseholders, or responsible persons on behalf of leaseholders, need legal advice about their property as a direct result of fire safety issues. This is where the Leaseholder Legal Advisory Scheme can help.
The scheme is free and is designed to offer leaseholders specialist legal advice and help to resolve potential disputes. The scheme is administered by the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) and the first step to access this support is to contact them.
An advisor will review the circumstances, assess if legal support is appropriate, and if so, will advise on the next steps and how to take these forward. Where appropriate, LEASE will then act as a referral service to a dedicated legal services provider whose initial advice will be paid for by the Welsh Government.
If you feel you might be eligible for legal support and would like more information about the Scheme, please contact LEASE. You can also contact LEASE if you have any other leasehold related queries.
Leaseholder Support Scheme
For those in financial hardship, the Leaseholder Support Scheme remains open. This scheme can provide free financial advice and arrange for the purchase of your property at a fair market value, if this is the right solution for the leaseholder. You can find out more about this scheme here: Leaseholder Support Scheme | GOV.WALES
Residents Rights with Managing Agents
We are aware that for many leaseholders it may not always be easy or straightforward when communicating with a managing agent. Managing agents are often members of professional bodies; these professional bodies will expect members to adhere to certain standards and codes of conduct. These professional bodies may be able to help you with any difficulties you are experiencing.
To check if your managing agent is a member of a professional body, you may find the links below of help.
Find a property agent near you | Propertymark
Find an agent - Regulation of letting agents | safeagent (safeagents.co.uk)
UK Association of Letting Agents - UKALA
Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 was granted Royal Assent on 24 May. The Act applies to England and Wales, bringing substantial improvements to the law and significant new rights for homeowners here, such as:
- Requiring transparency over leaseholders’ service charges.
- Replacing buildings insurance commissions for managing agents and landlords with transparent administration fees.
- Scrapping the presumption that leaseholders must pay their landlords’ legal costs when challenging poor practice.
- Setting a maximum fee and time for the provision of information required to support the sale of a leasehold property or freehold property subject to estate management charges, to make sales of such properties quicker.
Welsh Government are planning the implementation of the Act and making the necessary Welsh subordinate legislation. Given the complexity of the reforms, the next stage will be to engage and consult, and we will update on these plans in a future newsletter.
Trading Standards guidance
The National Trading Standards has published updated guidance on what constitutes Material Information in property listings.
The guidance aims to offer clarity and consistency for all stakeholders, including consumers, and help reduce property transaction times and fall-throughs. It can be found here: Material Information - National Trading Standards
Key points to highlight from the suite of guidance is all property listings should, where applicable give details on:
- Unsafe cladding
- Integrity of building materials
- Risk of collapse
- Wooden decking
- Any known issues with emergency lighting, fire and smoke systems
Where there are identified building safety issues sufficient ‘Material Information’ should be provided to enable the questions in this list to be answered list as a bare minimum:
- What is the defect/hazard?
- What work needs to be done?
- What work has already been done?
- What will the potential cost be to the new purchaser?
- Will it affect the buyer’s ability to reside within the property?
- Certificates of completion for any remedial works
- Details of any works
Material Information can either be requested from the managing agent or the freeholder. This information allows the estate agent to decide what should be on the listing (e.g., if there are expected costs, issues with obtaining a mortgage or relevant insurance products, or where remediation or maintenance work could interfere with the occupier’s enjoyment of the property).
We would love to hear your feedback on the new style of our newsletter. If you have any comments, please send them to buildingsafety@gov.wales
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