This month's Queen's Speech, laying out the legislative agenda for the upcoming Parliamentary session, included the Building Safety Bill, the government's response to the enquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017. A draft of this Bill was originally published in July 2020, but that draft has been undergoing pre-legislative scrutiny prior to being introduced to Parliament this year. We can expect further debate regarding the level of financial burden that leaseholders are expected to shoulder for the cost of removing unsafe cladding on high-rise residential apartments, which may cause delay to the passage of the Bill. The new building safety regime is expected to come into force in 2023, and given the long lead in times for construction projects and the fact that we are already half way through 2021, we would urge clients to engage early with their professional advisers on this area for projects in the pipeline.
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