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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps her Department is taking to support shared ownership leaseholders who are unable to sell their homes as a result of changes to lease terms following the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022.

The Building Safety Act ensures that those who built defective buildings take responsibility for remedying them; that the industry contributes to fixing the problem; and that leaseholders are protected in law from crippling bills for historical safety defects.

For shared owners, Schedule 8, paragraph 6(5) of the Building Safety Act provides that any contributions required towards remediation costs are capped according to the size of the share they own at the time their lease became qualified for the protections. This position does not change should a shared owner later increase their share by staircasing, including up to 100%.

The government has also introduced guidance to support shared owners who continue to face challenges due to building safety issues, including that requests to sub-let should always be accepted by registered providers of social housing in England (though where required, shared owners may also need permission from their mortgage lender and/or the building’s freeholder).