A Bristol estate agent is urging people selling their flats to have building safety documentation in place before putting the property on the market or risk conveyancers pulling the plug.

A recent survey revealed more than half of conveyancers have halted transactions on leasehold properties since the introduction of the Building Safety Act (BSA) in April.

Andrew Simmonds, who runs  Parker’s Estate Agents in Backwell and Country Property in the Cotswolds, says sellers need to take the initiative.

“The complexities of the BSA are making solicitors nervous about taking on any flat or leasehold property for fear of getting it wrong and not wanting to risk their professional indemnity.

“The legislation could especially affect chains, where a single leasehold property negatively impacted by requirements of the Act could derail the whole chain of transactions.

“There is a fear in some quarters, we could see more and more transactions getting bogged down or collapse completely in the coming weeks and months.”

Born out of the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy, the BSA targets “high-risk” buildings including those over 11m high and constructed in cladding as well as all other buildings.

However, despite its good intentions, the new legislation has been hailed a ‘car crash’ by some conveyancers who say many of the reforms are unclear and ill-communicated.

“Anyone thinking of selling their flat should request a leasehold information pack or ‘replies to LPE1 enquiries’ pack from the managing agent or freeholder,” says Andrew, who spent almost 20 years in leasehold management in the City, is a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors registered valuer and host of The Right Move? property podcast.

“This process can take anywhere from one week to six weeks, or maybe even months, depending on the responsiveness of the freeholder or the managing agent. 

“Landlords will often charge a fee for answering inquiries which could be anything from £150 to £500.”

Andrew says, sadly some people may find it impossible to get the necessary information from the freeholder at all, leaving them in limbo unable to sell their property.

A recent survey by Today’s Conveyancer found more than half of conveyancers have stopped working on transactions of leasehold properties due to problems with the BSA legislation.