Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 18 of 2026–27
The Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill that would prevent developers and building owners from recovering remediation costs for systemic defects from protected leaseholders in residential buildings containing any leasehold properties, with no minimum height or storey threshold. Systemic defects would include unsafe cladding and structural deficiencies. The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the bill at second reading on 11 September 2026.
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Briefing
Approximate read time: 15 minutes
The House of Lords is scheduled to debate the Leaseholder Remediation (Building Safety) Bill [HL] at second reading on 11 September 2026.
- The bill is a private member’s bill sponsored by Baroness Pinnock (Liberal Democrat). It seeks to expand certain protections for leaseholders and place new obligations on developers and building owners in England and Wales. Baroness Pinnock is her party’s spokesperson on housing matters in the House of Lords.
- Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017, the UK government introduced legislation that would become the Building Safety Act 2022 to reform the way building safety and building control are managed in England. However, many provision of the act do not apply to buildings below 11 metres in height. Some parts of the act also apply in Wales, but the Welsh government separately sponsored the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026.
- The UK government estimates there are between 5,900 and 7,400 residential buildings of at least 11 metres in height that have or had unsafe cladding requiring work in England. Once all works have been completed, it estimates the total cost of remediation will amount to between £11.8bn and £22.7bn.
- The bill would prevent developers and building owners from recovering remediation costs for systemic defects from protected leaseholders. Systemic defects would include unsafe cladding as well as unsafe balconies, structural deficiencies and other defects. The bill would apply to any residential building containing one or more leasehold properties, with no minimum height or storey threshold.
- The bill would create a requirement for developers and building owners to initiate and complete remediation works within prescribed timescales of either six months or two years.
- The government has not commented specifically on the bill but has pledged to introduce its own ‘remediation of unsafe cladding bill’ which would compel responsible entities to remediate their buildings or risk criminal prosecution. In July 2025, the government published a ‘remediation acceleration plan’ which set out its plans for the remediation of residential buildings with unsafe cladding in England.
- Some legal commentary has described the bill’s proposed leaseholder protections as “powerful” but said the obligations on developers could be “onerous”. The campaign group ‘End Our Cladding Scandal’ has said hundreds of thousands of leaseholders and residents remain “trapped” in unsafe and unsellable homes and has argued for full protection for all leaseholders.