Building Safety: Grant of a Remediation Order Where a Landlord Has Been Proactive in Dealing with Fire Safety Issues (Di Bari and others v Avon Ground Rents Ltd – 2024)

Grant of a remediation order where a landlord has been proactive in dealing with fire safety issues

The First-tier Tribunal considers whether a remediation order should be granted under the Building Safety Act 2022 in circumstances where a landlord has shown willingness in resolving fire safety issues voluntarily.

The background

Di Bari and others v Avon Ground Rents Ltd [2024] concerned a block of 29 flats reaching over 11m in height. The respondent landlord acquired the freehold of the building in 2015. The building is classed as a ‘relevant building’ under s.117 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (“BSA 2022”).

Under each of the flats’ leases, the landlord was required to repair the building’s structure, the structure of the flats’ balconies and roof terraces, and any other parts of the building not comprised within the demise of any individual flats. Each leaseholder’s demise included “the floor surface only of any patio or balcony or roof terrace” within each flat.

The landlord commissioned fire safety reports for the building which identified serious concerns. The landlord commenced statutory consultation with the leaseholders in order to carry out the necessary safety works, but the leaseholders nevertheless applied to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation order in order to establish a deadline by which the issues were to be remedied.

The decision

The First-tier Tribunal granted the remediation order, requiring building safety works to be undertaken within a stated period despite the landlord’s willingness shown in remedying the defects.

The FTT concluded that the remediation order was in the best interests of the leaseholders, ensuring that they had certainty over when works would be carried out rather than leaving them at the mercy of the landlord without a binding order in place.

The landlord was not, however, required to carry out works to the flooring of the balconies and terraces of each flat. Floor coverings were demised to the leaseholders, including timber decking to these external areas; although the landlord may choose to carry out works to the flooring, it was not obliged to either by the leases or by statute and the FTT did not therefore have jurisdiction to extend the remediation order to these parts.

The FTT included in its order a requirement for the landlord to supply reports to leaseholders following conclusion of works, and a requirement that works were to comply with building regulations.

Advice and action for landlords

Landlords are advised to be aware of this decision, which finds that even where a landlord has taken proactive steps to resolve building safety issues, a remediation order may nevertheless be granted by the FTT in order to provide greater certainty for leaseholders.

The FTT assessed the prejudice faced by leaseholders should an order not be granted, weighing this against the prejudice caused to the landlord in granting an order requiring it to carry out major works which the landlord intended to undertake whether or not the order was granted.

Landlords should be aware that the remediation order may extend to any part of the building for which the landlord is responsible for maintenance and repair under the terms of the leases. Where specific parts – such as the balcony and terrace floor coverings in this case – are not included in the landlord’s repairing covenant, no remediation order can be granted in respect of these areas.