Leaseholders obtain first remediation order under Building Safety Act for defective cladding

Leaseholders in Streatham Hill, London, have successfully obtained the first recorded remediation order under the Building Safety Act (BSA) 2022.

A group of leaseholders at 2-4 Leigham Court Road successfully obtained a remediation order against their landlord for defective external cladding and other safety issues.

According to legal company Clyde & Co (writing on 12 October 2023), this is the first time an application has reached the final stage of a final hearing.

Section 123 of the BSA 2022 allows for leaseholders to make remediation orders via a First Tier Tribunal, requiring landlords to remedy defects in the building, provided they are ‘relevant defects’ in a ‘relevant building’.

The case of Leigham Court Road

For the case of Leigham Court Road, two applications were consolidated relating to two blocks, comprising 35 residential flats and one commercial unit.

The premises were converted from commercial offices to residential units in 2016, with the building deemed compliant under the Building Regulations 2019 by the inspector at the time.

Concerns were then raised over the external wall systems following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 – specifically the aluminium cladding on the upper storeys and internal compartmentalisation.

Reports have since been undertaken which have been unable to determine if cladding met current standards of fire performance, but no remedial measures were taken.

The tribunal decided that the blocks, landlord and defects were all ‘relevant’ and posed a building safety risk.

A remediation order was therefore made under the BSA, with defects required to be remedied by 19 September 2025. The Tribunal also ordered that 80% of the costs could not be passed on to non-qualifying leaseholders via the service charge.

Analysing the learnings from this tribunal, legal firm Clyde & Co noted:

• Applications for the remediation order involves evidence-based exercises led by experts and inspection reports
• Leaseholders had to hear their own costs to bring the tribunal
• The application took just under a year to progress to this stage, so it is by no means quick
• The Act does not specify a standard or benchmark for remedial work

The full article and analysis is available from Clyde & Co, here.

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