Amendments to property transaction forms, including following the implementation of the Building Safety Act 2022

The forms that have been amended are the Leasehold Property Enquiries form (LPE1), Leasehold Information form (TA7), and Completion Information and Undertakings form (TA13).

Forms LPE1 and TA7 were amended to assist with transactions impacted by the Building Safety Act 2022 – which came into force in June 2022.  The President of the Law Society of England and Wales has shared that the amendments were made ‘as part of efforts to ensure that those who want to buy or re-mortgage flats affected by building safety issues can access mortgage finance’.  The amended forms mean that there are new requirements for sellers to disclose building safety issues concerning the property they are selling, to their buyer.  The amendments to the forms also coincide with lenders changing their policies relating to lending (or not lending) on properties involved in remediation schemes or covered by leaseholder protections.  The amendments can be summarised as follows: 

 

The LPE1 now asks…

•  Whether the Leaseholder Deed of Certificate has been served on the Landlord in relation to the sale of the property or remedial works required
•  Whether a Landlord’s Certificate has been served
•  If there is any outstanding enforcement action.

 

The TA7…

•  Now has a new section dealing with building safety to assist transactions impacted by the Building Safety Act 2022 – asking about remediation works, if the lease is a qualifying lease, the Leaseholders Deed of Certificate and the Landlord’s Certificate
•  Asks if the seller knows about defects at the property that create a building safety risk
•  Raises new questions about the ownership and management of the building

 

The TA13 form has also been updated – it now prompts for arrangements to be made for the seller to hand over the keys as it did before and for any equivalent electronic devices, passcodes and alarm codes to be handed over too.  It also requests confirmation that a copy of the executed transfer is attached or will be supplied before completion, and requires a client’s firm reference to be included with the bank details.

In the future, it is expected that a standard set of additional enquiries will be created in order to deal with issues that arise from the Building Safety Act, to ensure that conveyancers receive the necessary information to advise clients and lenders. For now though, the updated forms should be used going forward.