UK building-safety initiative could leave residential investors and lenders exposed to remedial work risks

The latest stage of UK government action to address the safety of residential devel­opments is the "Developers' Pledge".

The pledge is an initiative brought forward by the UK government's Department of Levelling-Up, Housing and Communities, which offers responsible developers a chance to come forward and commit to remedial works on any of their multi-storey resi­dential buildings that include combustible cladding. But this is not just for property developers. In prac­tice, the initiative has implications for current asset owners in the UK's living sectors, as well as for those carrying out pre-purchase due diligence.

As it stands, the pledge applies to any owner of a residential unit that is more than 11 metres tall. Many investors who own these types of buildings, however, may not be aware of the pledge's ramifica­tions. Whether someone is an overseas investor, or if they would not typically consider themselves a developer because they did not construct