Building Safety Levy delayed until autumn 2026

The government has delayed the introduction of the Building Safety Levy to 2026.

Responding to the previous administration's technical consultation on the levy, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) stated that the new charge on residential development to cover the cost of remediating buildings would be implemented in autumn 2026, a year later than originally intended.

This delay, MHCLG explained, would allow developers around 18 months to "factor the levy cost into their planning".

And local government, the Building Safety Regulator and Registered Building Control approvers would have 18 months to prepare for it. The levy regulations will be laid in parliament later this year.

The change follows a letter that the Home Builders Federation wrote to the chancellor Rachel Reeves last week, expressing “its deep concerns” over the government’s decision to implement the levy.

More than 100 housebuilders signed the letter, in which HBF wrote that the levy was “nakedly anti-development" and would lead to "many fewer homes, including affordable homes, being built".

The extra burden, HBF stated, could threaten “the existence of some hard-pressed SME home builders".

Soon after the HBF sent its letter, the Public Accounts Committee, in response to …