Agents back Polluter Pays concept to help leaseholders

Propertymark says current government policy over leaseholder protections is too weak.

The letting agents’ trade body has thrown its weight behind a series of House of Lords amendments to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, put forward by The Earl of Lytton. 

The amendments would establish a Building Safety Remediation Scheme and ensure that remediation focuses on individuals responsible for building safety risks arising, be that from non-compliant products or construction practices. This is known widely as the Polluter Pays principle.

A Propertymark spokesperson says: “Current UK government policy does not go far enough to support leaseholder protections which limits leaseholders by the size of buildings and the property that they own. Fundamentally, individuals who are not responsible for making buildings unsafe should not be charged with remediation costs.

“Proposals for a Building Safety Remediation Scheme would help lead to greater confidence in the buying and selling of property in high-rise buildings. In order to ensure that impacted property can continue to be bought, sold and rented it is vital that we have a system that holds those directly responsible to account.”

The trade body adds that the amendments would ensure that the leaseholders or occupiers are not liable for any costs and would be designed to be funded through a levy on the construction industry as a whole as well as applying to buildings of all heights, not just those over 11 metres tall.

It adds that the principle behind the Polluter Pays campaign is to ensure that those responsible for causing building safety risks in the first place are held accountable for historic malpractice that has made some buildings unsafe.