To ask the Minister of Finance what assessment his Department has made of the cost to residential leaseholders in Northern Ireland of ensuring tall buildings meet (i) building; and (ii) fire safety regulations following the implementation of the Fire Safety Act 2021.

The Fire Safety Act 2021 applies in England and Wales only. The equivalent Fire Safety Regulations for buildings in operation here are the responsibility of the Department of Health, which has advised that the costs to residential leaseholders is not its responsibility.

My Department is responsible for the local Building Regulations. Building Regulations do not apply to existing ‘tall buildings’ unless the requirements in building regulations are triggered by alteration or extension to the existing building. Building regulations will apply to any newly erected tall building and also any tall building created as a result of a material change of use.

Implementation of the Fire Safety Act 2021 will have no impact on ‘tall buildings’ meeting building regulations here (including the fire safety standards contained therein). Hence an assessment of cost to residential leaseholders has not been necessary here.

On 1 April 2022 the Department amended Building Regulations introducing the requirement that combustible materials cannot be used on the external walls of certain tall buildings. This so called ‘ban on combustible materials’ replicated similar bans introduced in England and Wales. A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) for the new requirement was compiled which estimated the total costs to industry rather than attributing these. The RIA highlights modest costs to industry and to district councils responsible for enforcing building regulation requirements and are available here:

Consultation on amendments to The Building (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2022 | Department of Finance (finance-ni.gov.uk)