The government has admitted it has not estimated the costs leaseholders face for building defects that fall outside the scope of the Developer Remediation Contract. This contract requires developers to fund the remediation of qualifying fire safety defects in buildings they developed, but it does not cover all defects affecting leaseholders.
Homeless minister Florence Eshalomi stated in a written parliamentary question that no such estimate has been made. However, she added that leaseholders may benefit from protections under the Building Safety Act 2022, which aims to limit or prevent many historical building safety remediation costs from being passed on to qualifying leaseholders.
A report by Propertymark highlights that leaseholders are facing rising costs and difficulties selling their homes. Over 86% of leaseholders reported increases in service charges over the past 24 months, with 62% experiencing rises of more than 21% and over one in four seeing increases exceeding 60%.
These rising costs are impacting property sales, with 58% of leaseholders citing service charges and 53% citing ground rent as having a major impact on their ability to sell. Estate agents also report challenges, with over 76% finding it more difficult to sell leasehold properties.