The BSA in 2025: key things to look out for

Many of you will have grappled with the Building Safety Act (the BSA) last year, but there are more changes to come.

Following the recent announcement of the planned demolition of the Grenfell Tower, here is our high-level round-up of five key BSA related issues that will impact the construction and real estate industries over the coming months. These include:

1. Four key cases

1.URS v BDW: the BSA reigns supreme and developers are owed duties from their contractors under the Defective Premises Act 1972 – this Supreme Court appeal was heard at the end of 2024. It is big news as: a) it’s the Supreme Court; and b) the decision will be of interest to the construction, real estate and insurance sectors.

The court will consider three main points:

• The extent of an engineer’s common law duty of care to a developer (which is a basic principle with greater ramifications across the industry than those related to the BSA only)
• The extent of a construction professional’s duty to a developer under the Defective Premises Act 1972
• The retrospective effect to the 30-year limitation period of the Defective Premises Act introduced by the BSA.

2. Hippersley Point – looking back over an important point – The Court of Appeal will consider whether the provisions that say that no service charge is payable to remedy certain defects has retrospective effect. This case will be heard sequentially with Triathlon Homes (see below)

3.Triathlon Homes – more retrospective action – Here the Court of Appeal will consider the retrospective effect of remedial contribution orders to recover costs incurred prior to the Building Safety Act coming into force. It is also looking at the “just and equitable” test for a remediation contribution order.

4. Almacantar Centre Point – all about the cladding – This is an adjourned appeal in Almacantar Centre Point v Various Leaseholders of Centre Point Houseto understand what is meant by a “cladding system” in the context of service charge recovery and whether qualifying leaseholders are required to pay for removal or replacement of unsafe cladding.

2. Government response to the final report looking into the Grenfell Tower disaster

The report was published in September 2024 and the Government said it would respond within six months. There are many important aspects for the Government to consider including:

• A new construction regulator with a greater range of powers than the current
• Further review of Approved Document B of the Building Regulations 2010. From 2 March 2025 amendments are being introduced to enhance fire safety with important new responsibilities for principal contractors, increased record keeping and stricter performance standards for materials

• The definition of a higher-risk building is reviewed. The inquiry stated: “We do not think that to define a building as “higher-risk” by reference only to its height is satisfactory, being essentially arbitrary in nature. More relevant is the nature of its use and, in particular, the likely presence of vulnerable people, for whom evacuation in the event of a fire or other emergency would be likely to present difficulty. We therefore recommend that the definition of a higher-risk building for the purposes of the Building Safety Act be reviewed urgently”.

There is already uncertainty around the definition of higher-risk buildings following the case of Smoke House & Curing House, 18 Remus Road, London in relation to whether “useable” roof space should or should not be counted as a storey. In this decision the First-tier Tribunal concluded that a roof terrace containing a roof garden as well as plant and machinery did count as a storey (contrary to current Government guidance on counting storeys).

3. Remediation Acceleration

On 2 December 2024 the Government published its Remediation Acceleration Plan – GOV.UK. This sets out three clear objectives:

• Fix buildings faster – they say “We propose to legislate to create a clear and legal duty on those responsible for buildings 11m and over to take the necessary steps to fix their buildings within clear timescales.” This would be supported by significant financial consequences for inaction and a new criminal offence for those who ultimately fail to remove unsafe cladding. This will be supplemented by further powers for regulators to enforce. The Government will also announce a long-term strategy on accelerating remediation of social housing properties in Spring 2025.
• Identify all buildings with unsafe cladding – they say “We propose closing this information gap and providing greater certainty to residents, by legislating to require the registration of 11-18m residential buildings. Once this process is complete, we will, for the first time, have a complete register of relevant buildings (i.e. residential buildings above 11m) making the task of identifying, assessing and fixing those that require it, much faster and more straightforward.”
• Support residents – This part of the plan includes introducing a Building Safety Levy that will come into force in Autumn 2025. Under the Levy, property developers are to help pay the cost of remediating defects in historic developments by paying a levy prior to being issued a building control certificate.

4. Residential Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (Residential PEEPs)

As part of Phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, there was a recommendation that the owner and manager of every high-rise residential building be legally required to prepare Personal Emergency Evacuation Plans (PEEPs) for all those whose ability to self-evacuate may be compromised.

The Government has since further consulted on this, and published its response in December 2024.

It is expected that new regulations will be brought into force on Residential PEEPs this year.

5. New Homes Quality Code and Ombudsman

The BSA makes provision for a new homes ombudsman scheme to be established and for an approved code of practice and standards of conduct and quality for housebuilders. These are not yet formally in force (although there are existing non-mandatory schemes).

In October 2024, in response to Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) recommendations, the Government announced that it will be exercising its powers under the BSA to develop and approve a single mandatory consumer code for all housebuilders operating in Great Britain. These changes are to provide greater protections for households under private management, as well as for individuals purchasing new homes as their own residence. Alongside a single consumer code, the Government also accepted the CMA’s recommendation to activate the ombudsman scheme. In 2025, we expect all developers will be required to take steps to participate with the scheme.

We will continue to keep you updated as matters develop.