| answer text |
<p>The powers to enforce contraventions of the building regulations lie with local
authorities. Under Sections 35, 35A and 36 of the Building Act the local authority
has the power to take enforcement action and can take action against the building
owner and those carrying out the works (for example the builder, installer or main
contractor).</p><p>The Government is providing £5 billion of funding to protect leaseholders
living in residential buildings over 18 metres with unsafe cladding from the costs
of remediation, but this does not absolve building owners or developers of their responsibilities.
Building owners should meet the remediation costs without passing them on to leaseholders
wherever possible, through their own resources or by recovering costs from applicable
warranty schemes or from the developers or contractors who were responsible for the
installation of unsafe cladding, as is happening with more than half of the private
sector buildings with ACM cladding. Applicants to the Building Safety Fund and the
Private Sector ACM Remediation Fund are also required to demonstrate that they have
taken all reasonable steps to recover the costs of replacing the unsafe cladding from
those responsible.</p><p>Furthermore, as announced on 10 February 2021, we are going
to introduce a developer levy through the Building Safety Bill to be targeted and
applied when developers seek permission to develop certain high-rise buildings in
England. In addition, we will introduce a new tax for the UK residential property
development sector in 2022. The levy and tax will ensure that the largest property
developers make a fair contribution to the remediation programme. The Government will
consult on the policy design of the tax.</p>
|
|
