In Crest Nicholson Regeneration Limited v Ardmore Construction Limited [2026] EWHC 789, the TCC handed down one of the most important Building Safety Act decisions to date, granting two Building Liability Orders (BLOs) against companies associated with an insolvent contractor.
What happened?
Crest Nicholson Regeneration Limited (Crest) engaged Ardmore Construction Limited (ACL) to design and build a residential development in Portsmouth. Post‑Grenfell investigations identified serious fire safety defects in the external wall system. Crest referred the dispute to adjudication. The adjudicator held that the defects amounted to breaches of the Building Regulations and the Defective Premises Act 1972 and awarded Crest £14.9m. ACL entered administration the day before the decision was made and ultimately did not pay.
The application
Crest applied for:
an anticipatory BLO, making ACL’s associated companies jointly and severally liable for any liability later established against ACL; and
an adjudication BLO, making those associates liable for the unpaid adjudicator’s award.
The decision
The Court granted both BLOs, holding that:
BLOs can be made before trial, even where liability is disputed;
An adjudicator’s decision can be a “relevant liability” under the Building Safety Act;
ACL’s insolvency, group restructuring to ring‑fence liabilities, and the associates’ long‑standing knowledge of the claims all pointed strongly towards it being just and equitable to make the orders; and
The Court had a “high degree of confidence” that ACL would ultimately be found liable for the defects.
Why this matters?
Associated companies can face early exposure, even before liability is finally determined.
Corporate restructuring and insolvency will not prevent liability being passed up to the group.
In September 2024, the Grenfell Tower Inquiry published its final report which made 58 recommendations based on its findings and in our original article we looked at some of the key recommendations affecting the construction industry. We now take a look at the Government’s response to two of those recommendations:
to review the definition of Higher-Risk Buildings; and
to convene an advisory panel to produce an authoritative statement on the knowledge and skills to be expected of a competent fire engineer.
Review of the definition of Higher-Risk Buildings
The concept of a Higher-Risk Building (“HRB”) was introduced by the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA”) which contains onerous obligations governing the design, construction and occupation of HRBs.
In England, the current definition of an HRB is a building which:
is at least 18 metres in height, or has at least 7 storeys;
contains at least 2 residential units; and
does not comprise entirely of a secure residential institution, a hotel, or military barracks, and does not contain military accommodation.
For Part 3 of the BSA (design, construction, and building work to existing higher-risk buildings), hospitals and care homes are HRBs, but, under Part 4 (in-occupation duties), they are not.
As part of the review of this definition, the Government directed the Building Safety Regulator (“the Regulator”) to carry out a review of the key factors in the HRB regime and their implications. Following consideration of the available evidence, the conclusion published in December 2025 was that the original definition “still seems focused on the appropriate categories of buildings”, and that an increase to the scope of the HRB regime at this time would not be right. It was also noted that the definition of HRB, and the associated regime, has only been in operation since April 2024 and so it is still early to say whether it needs to be changed, albeit it is already having a positive impact on buildings within its scope.
Despite this, the Government and the Regulator acknowledged the importance of work to protect vulnerable residents as well as the evolving risks of the built environment and agreed that the Regulator will operate a process for ongoing risk-based review of the definition.
The conclusion is in quite stark contrast to the Inquiry’s finding that defining an HRB by reference to height is unsatisfactory and arbitrary, with the nature of its use and the presence of vulnerable people being more relevant than height. The material tension between the ideal approach, and an approach that is workable in practice, is manifest in this result, and it seems the Government has fallen on the side of practicality so as not to further stifle development in the UK, particularly in the residential sector.
Authoritative statement
In response to this recommendation, the Government appointed a panel comprised of eight of the foremost experts, which produced the authoritative statement in December 2025.
The panel set down the following definition for a fire engineer:
“Fire engineers are professionals who develop and deliver engineering solutions that protect people and mitigate harm to the built and natural environment in the event of fire.”
The statement observed that there is no single recognised pathway to becoming a fire engineer, which leads to variation in the qualifications and skills of those operating as fire engineers. Further, ethical standards are inconsistently defined and monitored, and engineering principles are not always effectively applied, which leads to issues with delivery and poor confidence in the profession.
The statement confirms the panel’s support for the Government’s intention to regulate both the title and function of fire engineers and required legal restrictions on the use of the title of fire engineer. Further, statutory regulation should define the functions and activities that can be performed only by an individual who is registered and has met specific requirements. The preparation of the fire strategy should be a protected function, as that is the fundamental core of a fire engineer’s work. In the absence of an existing authoritative definition of what a fire safety strategy is, the statement sets out the panel’s view on what a fire safety strategy should include, and notes that “In delivering the fire safety strategy, the role of the fire engineer is fundamentally one of integration. The fire engineer acts as the link between multiple disciplines”.
The Government has achieved a robust delivery of this recommendation, with the panel’s statement and the Government’s intentions being aligned, which will hopefully motivate the Government. The stumbling block will be the timeline for the Government to turn intention into reality, and whether the practical reality of the huge demand for fire engineers will lead to the Government diverging from the panel’s statement and its current intention.
Following the publication of the White Paper on Commonhold in March last year, the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill landed today.
Overview: What is the bill trying to achieve?
The bill makes fundamental changes to a number of aspects of property, housing and landlord and tenant legislation; its core aim being to end the leasehold system and, by reinvigorating the model, to make commonhold the default tenure for flats.
Structure of the bill
The bill, made up of 6 parts and supported by a number of detailed schedules, attempts to deliver on the government’s manifesto commitments.
Part 1 – commonhold (core provisions of the bill)
This part rebuilds commonhold law from the ground up, repealing and replacing Part 1 of the Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”).
It sets out a more structured and detailed approach to how commonhold schemes will be created, operated, and brought to an end – and of particular interest, it provides for conversion to proceed with 50% of qualifying leaseholders, rather than unanimity.
It provides detailed provisions on the Commonhold Community Statement, clarifies the functions and obligations of the commonhold association, and defines the respective rights and duties of unit‑holders and occupiers.
In addition, the bill introduces new statutory processes allowing commonhold land to be extended, partially dismantled or developed, alongside comprehensive provisions governing financial administration, compliance mechanisms and the resolution of disputes.
Part 2 – new leasehold flats
Part 2 restricts the grant of new long residential leases of flats, save where defined exemptions apply, and establishes a statutory system of remedies where such leases are granted in breach of those restrictions.
A consultation on this opened today, seeking views from the industry and consumers on questions relating to scope, exemptions, timings, transitional arrangements, and the wider commonhold legal framework – Moving to commonhold: banning leasehold for new flats – GOV.UK
The consultation remains open until 24 April 2026 and anyone in the sector is encouraged to have their say!
Part 3 – ground rent
This part imposes a cap on ground rent in existing leases to £250pa, reducing it to a peppercorn after 40 years.
My colleague, James Carpenter will be reporting on this separately.
Part 4 – enforcement of long leases
This part abolishes forfeiture in long residential leases and replaces it with a new, fairer, enforcement scheme.
Part 5 – estate rentcharges
This part repeals disproportionate enforcement powers applied to rentcharges.
Part 6 – general and miscellaneous
This part contains general provisions such as Crown application, power to make consequential amendments, Court/tribunal rules, regulations, extent and commencement/transitional provisions.
Schedules
These contain technical details on many aspects of the bill including:
permitted lease categories;
commonhold finance rules;
order for sale procedures;
rights to acquire or convert to commonhold;
financial penalties; and
amendments to dozens of existing pieces of legislation.
Impact of the bill
The Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is not an amendment to the 2002 Act but its replacement in spirit and substance.While the 2002 Act introduced commonhold, the bill is designed to make it work, whilst simultaneously phasing out the leasehold system.
There is a long road ahead as the bill passes into pre-legislative scrutiny and through Parliament – and the devil will most certainly be in the detail.
More on this to follow from Forsters in the coming weeks and months.
Over 5 million leaseholders and future homeowners will benefit from stronger control, powers and protections, through the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill published today (Tuesday 27 January), which will fundamentally rewire homeownership across England and Wales.
