26 November 2020

Fire Safety and Cladding Podcast

Podcast host, Miri Stickland, talks to Construction partner Andrew Parker, associate Dan Cudlipp and Property Litigation associate Sarah Heatley about the findings and recommendations so far from the ongoing Grenfell inquiry, new legislation coming forward in the form of the Building Safety Bill, practical issues being encountered on sales and refinancings of high-rise residential units and what options may be available to cover the costs of any remediation works required.

“Phase 2 of the Grenfell Inquiry is going to be particularly important for the construction industry by shining a light on how materials are tested, what design choices should be made and identifying where there are flaws in the current regulations.”

“The Building Safety Bill will be a significant piece of statutory reform, with the current legislation no longer fit for purpose, especially in respect of residential occupants. Leaseholders and occupants of residential blocks are the primary focus of the Bill, which introduces the new role of an Accountable Person, clarifies that cladding and wall systems do form part of the common parts of the building and introduces a new category of service charge with the concept of building safety charges. Overall, the Bill makes it much clearer as to what owners need to do to keep residents safe and easier for occupiers to compel owners to investigate and fix cladding.”

“Sometimes there is no obvious recourse for cost recovery from third parties and there are areas which the Government funding doesn’t cover, for example, where a waking watch is required to be put in place to ensure residents’ safety. Building owners will need to think carefully about whether these costs are recoverable from leaseholders and be mindful of the residential service charge consultation requirements.”

In this episode we were joined by:

Listen to more episodes and subscribe

You can listen to more episodes of the More Than Law podcast here on our website, as well as subscribe on your favourite podcast services, including SoundCloud, iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, TuneIn and YouTube.

To continue the conversation on social media, use #MoreThanLawPodcast.


Planning Reforms: True revolution or plus ça change…?

Podcast host, Miri Stickland, is joined by Head of Planning, Partner Victoria Du Croz, and senior associate, Laura Parrish, to discuss the impact of recent changes to the Use Classes Order and Permitted Development Rights as well as further planning reforms which are still to come.

Podcast graphic - phone and earphones

Our Insights

"Best in the business’ according to some, Forsters LLP is praised for its ‘extremely sophisticated client skills, quality of service."
Legal 500 UK
×