UK Landlord Forum / Life

I remember the Government stepping up to the plate and giving us all assurances that no Leaseholder would end up paying-out mouth-watering sums for the mistakes of Others (Developers) in relation to cladding and fire risks.

I have owned a leasehold 26th floor apartment in Sheffield since 2010 or so. I have let it out since about 2012. I have a home and other properties let out too. Imagine how my heart jumped when I was casually reading the detail of the Building Safety Act 2022, where it talks about the concept of a "qualifying lease", https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/contents:

119Meaning of "qualifying lease" and "the qualifying time"
(1)This section applies for the purposes of sections 122 to 125 and Schedule 8.
(2)A lease is a "qualifying lease" if—
   (a)it is a long lease of a single dwelling in a relevant building,
   (b)the tenant under the lease is liable to pay a service charge,
   (c)the lease was granted before 14 February 2022, and
   (d)at the beginning of 14 February 2022 ("the qualifying time")—
      (i)the dwelling was a relevant tenant's only or principal home,
      (ii)a relevant tenant did not own any other dwelling in the United Kingdom, or
      (iii)a relevant tenant owned no more than two dwellings in the United Kingdom apart from their interest under the lease.

Does that read like any Landlord who lets out an apartment in a tower, where there is need for remediation, won't be helped with funding if they also own 2 other properties and, likely, let one or both of them out?

I had always been operating under the impression buildings would be considered as a whole - not each individual apartment within the building and the owner's circumstances, but it really starts to read like - if you lived there on 14 Feb 2022 you're sorted, but if you were a Landlord who didn't live there, you might not be sorted at all. You might be expected to pay.

Also... the remediation work on a big building... the Management Company involved here is estimating 58 weeks! Cripes.

Being suitably concerned about this... I found myself at this .gov page, which eases my concerns (somewhat)... https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-will-cladding-costs-be-paid-for ...for cladding... as well as confusing the hell out of me.

It says - 11. If you live in a building above 11 metres and you are classed as a non-qualifying leaseholder under the protections, then the government's actions will still mean you are protected from cladding system costs. - and then goes on to say - 13. The government is also making funding available, through the Building Safety Fund, or the new 11-18 metre cladding remediation scheme to ensure the costs of remediating an unsafe cladding system no longer fall to leaseholders. - it doesn't seem to differentiate between qualifying and non-qualifying.

In that case what is the point of having "non-qualifying" tenants,if they are not expected to pay anyway? I would feel very relieved in your position.Hopefully the work won't be too disruptive to those living there.