Building Safety Levy consultation – our response

The government recently ran a consultation on the Building Safety Levy, which closed on 15 October 2021. The levy will help fund the remediation of unsafe cladding, and will be payable by developers of new residential buildings, care homes and hospitals which are 18m or more in height, or at least seven storeys. 

We support the intent of the levy to contribute to the costs of making all buildings safe for residents, however the new levy should not impact the supply of affordable homes.

We worked with our members to gather feedback on the consultation, and in our response to the government recommend the follow measures:

• Affordable housing should be excluded from the Building Safety Levy, including affordable homes contributed under planning obligations, as anticipated in the consultation document.
• Non-profit registered providers of social housing, and companies that are wholly owned by non-profit registered providers of social housing should be excluded from paying the levy.
• There should be a mechanism whereby the levy can be recouped in the event that any part of a building in respect of which the levy was paid is subsequently transferred to a registered provider of social housing and used to provide affordable homes.
• As a transitional measure, the Building Safety Levy should not be payable in relation to developments that had been granted planning permission before the Building Safety Levy is introduced.