Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of legal protections for homeowners against housing damage caused by building works.

The Building Safety Act includes an ambitious toolkit of measures to allow those responsible for defective work to be pursued. This includes imposing a new duty under section 2A of the Defective Premises Act 1972, to ensure that anyone who takes on work in a relation to any part of a relevant building owes a duty to ensure that the building is fit for habitation upon completion. The Act also extends the limitation period for prospective claims under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972, from 6 to 15 years and broadens the reach of civil liability to associated companies of developers, including trusts. This is to ensure that those who have used shell companies and other complex corporate structures to evade their responsibilities, including some of the largest businesses in the sector, can be pursued for contributions.