Schedule 8: Remediation costs under qualifying leases Paragraph 16: Information from landlords Effect
Paragraph 16 creates powers which allow regulations to be made requiring landlords of a relevant building (to which see section 117) to provide information and documents to certain other parties.
	Sub-paragraph (1) sets out that the Secretary of State may make regulations requiring a relevant landlord to give information or documents to a relevant tenant or to another person prescribed by the regulations.
	"Relevant landlord" is defined for the purposes of paragraph 16 in sub-paragraph (8) as a landlord under a relevant lease, where a "relevant lease" is further defined as a lease of a premises in a relevant building. As such, a relevant landlord for the purposes of paragraph 16 is any landlord under lease of a premises in a relevant building. The term "relevant landlords" includes the freeholder, any head lessee, and any further superior landlords.
	"Relevant tenant" is defined in sub-paragraph (8) as a tenant under a relevant lease. As explained above, a "relevant lease" is a lease of any premises in a relevant building. This means that paragraph 16 applies to any leaseholder in a relevant building, not just qualifying leaseholders.
	Sub-paragraph (1) states that the regulations may require that information or documents may be provided to an "other prescribed person", as well as to a relevant tenant, where "prescribed" means prescribed in the regulations.
	Sub-paragraph (2) sets out that the information and documents prescribed in the regulations can relate to any part of Schedule 8 and sub-paragraph (3) allows the regulations to set out how the information or documents are to be provided; this includes the timescales within which they are to be sent and the format in which they are to be provided.
	Sub-paragraphs (4) to (7) make provision for the situation in which a relevant landlord fails to comply with the regulations. Sub-paragraph (4) provides that where the regulations are not complied with, that the regulations may provide for prescribed costs (where "prescribed" means prescribed in the regulations) not to be payable under the service charge or to be met from a reserve fund. This means that where the landlord does not comply with the information sharing regulations made under paragraph 16, the landlord may be prevented from passing on certain costs to leaseholders through the service charge under the regulations. Sub-paragraph (4)(a) achieves this by providing for prescribed costs not to be regarded as relevant costs when calculating the service charge, where "relevant costs" has the same meaning as in section 18 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985; and by providing that they cannot be met from a relevant reserve fund, where "relevant reserve fund" has the same meaning as in paragraph 10 of Schedule 8.
	Sub-paragraph (5) creates a power to make regulations for and in connection with an application to the First-tier Tribunal should a landlord fail to comply with the regulations. Sub-paragraph (5) sets out that an application can be made to the Tribunal for an order determining whether the landlord has complied with the regulations. If the landlord has not complied, the Tribunal may order the landlord to provide information or documents under the regulations.