Your council is checking your building. You do not need to do anything.
Here is what is happening, your rights, and who to contact.
In an emergency, call 999.
What is happening
Your council may have written to the owner of your building to collect fire safety information. Nothing changes for you today.
Four steps, all taken by the council and the building owner.
Your council checks buildings in its area.
Starting from height and land records, the council identifies residential buildings that building safety law applies to.
The owner is asked for information.
The building's owner, or their managing agent, answers questions about the building and its fire safety.
The council reviews it.
Your council checks what the owner sends and follows up if anything is missing.
Works, if any, are planned by the owner.
If the building needs fire safety works, the owner is responsible. Government funding may pay, and many leaseholders are protected from cladding costs (Building Safety Act 2022 Schedule 8 para 8).
Your rights
If you are a qualifying leaseholder, the Building Safety Act 2022 protects you from most of the cost of fixing safety defects in your building (s.122 and Schedule 8).
Cladding: you pay nothing
Since 28 June 2022, no service charge is payable under a qualifying lease for removing or replacing unsafe cladding (Schedule 8 para 8).
Other safety defects: capped
If your landlord is the developer, or is associated with the developer, you pay nothing (Schedule 8 para 2). Otherwise the total you can be charged is capped (paras 5 and 6), and at most a tenth of the cap in any 12 months (para 7).
| Lease value | Greater London | Rest of England |
|---|---|---|
| Under £325,000 (London) or £175,000 | £0 | £0 |
| Up to £1 million | £15,000 | £10,000 |
| £1 million to £2 million | £50,000 | £50,000 |
| Over £2 million | £100,000 | £100,000 |
Is your lease qualifying?
It must meet all four (s.119):
- A lease of more than 21 years, with a service charge
- In a building at least 11 m high or with at least 5 storeys, with two or more homes (s.117(2))
- Granted before 14 February 2022
- On 14 February 2022 it was your main home, or you owned no more than three UK properties
In a higher-risk building
Buildings of at least 18 metres or 7 storeys, with at least two homes, are higher-risk buildings (Building Safety Act 2022 s.65). Residents there have extra rights.
- A say in safety: The principal accountable person must have a residents' engagement strategy, setting out how they involve you (s.91).
- Information on request: Residents aged 16 and over can ask for prescribed safety information about the building (s.89).
- A complaints route: Complain to the principal accountable person first (s.93). If it is not resolved, the Building Safety Regulator runs its own complaints system (s.94).
Checked on legislation.gov.uk and GOV.UK on . A simplified summary, not legal or financial advice.
Who to contact, in order
Start with the first. Move to the next only if your concern is not resolved.
In an emergency, call 999. Do this first, before anything below.
Your landlord or managing agent.
They are usually the responsible person for fire safety in the shared parts (Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 art. 3). Start here.
Your council.
For questions about the letter it sent to your building's owner, or about housing conditions.
Your local fire and rescue service.
For advice on a fire safety concern in your building.
The Building Safety Regulator.
In a higher-risk building, if a complaint to the principal accountable person is not resolved.
What we do and do not do
Golden Ledger helps your council collect fire safety information from the owner of your building. We do not inspect buildings, enforce the law or publish lists of buildings.
Do I need to do anything?
No. The owner of the building answers the council. You do not need an account.
Will I have to pay?
If you are a qualifying leaseholder, not for cladding, and other safety costs are capped. If you rent, speak to your landlord.
Is my building on Golden Ledger?
We do not publish lists of buildings. Ask your landlord or managing agent, or your council.
Have a concern about your building?
Start with your landlord or managing agent. If you are a leaseholder, check which funding routes may cover the cost of work.
We do not publish lists of buildings. How we look after information