Conveyancing Association launches new guidance for Building Safety Act




The Conveyancing Association (CA) has today (26th April 2023) launched new guidance for conveyancing firms which addresses The Building Safety Act and Building Safety (Leaseholder Protection) (England) Regulations 2022.

The guidance provides conveyancing firms with details on what the act and regulations currently contain and what they should consider in light of its enactment into law.

Leaseholder protections outline the need for a Leaseholder Deed of Certificate and Landlord Certificate and apply to buildings of at least 11 metres/five storeys, while a new regulatory framework applies to buildings over 18 metres with a special role for the Buildings Safety Regulator.

The document covers a number of areas, including:

• what is a relevant building
• how to determine height
• how to determine the number of storeys
• the relevant defects covered 
• who is a qualifying leaseholder
• the exception of leaseholder-owned buildings
• the Leaseholder Deed of Certificate
• the evidence required
• leaseholder protection
• who else might be responsible
• the developer, landlord, superior landlord, or the leaseholders
• the Landlord Certificate

The document also includes a range of FAQs, plus a list of questions all conveyancing firms should be asking when working on cases with relevant buildings.


The CA has committed to update the guidance as and when it becomes aware of further changes, given the legislation contained in the act goes live at different times.

Beth Rudolf, director of delivery at the CA, commented: “Given the complexity of the Building Safety Act, the Building Safety Regulations, and Fire Safety Regulations, we decided to create this guidance which combines information available on the Gov.uk website as well as from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

“It is designed to provide a precis of what we feel are the relevant parts of the legislation, and hopefully steers conveyancers in the right direction when it comes to carrying out their work for cases which involve relevant buildings.

“It is very much a work in progress; as the industry gets into the practicalities of dealing with these cases and as we learn more about how this is going to sit within our sector, we will update our guidance to reflect any changes.

“The normal disclaimers apply, particularly as the legislation has not yet been tested in Court, but we hope this helps set out the main issues and items which conveyancing firms will need to consider and advise clients on, and to dispel some of the myths out there which are making conveyancers’ jobs even harder.”

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