| Summary: | In June 2017, the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, London, led to the loss of
seventy-two lives. Since then thousands of blocks of flats in England have been
discovered to have life-critical safety failures. In England, flats are owned on a long
leasehold basis, and this Article explains the devastating impact that this building
safety crisis continues to have on leaseholders and residents in affected blocks. This
has triggered a “property moment” that brings to the fore questions about the
state’s role in shaping property. The Article sets out the surprising interventions
in both property law and private law implemented through the Building Safety Act
2022 and how they disrupt established norms. This includes complex provisions
that override lease terms to provide (some) leaseholders with protection from
remediation costs. Throughout this Article, the lens of resilience is adopted to reflect
on the many understandings of property—as real estate, as a form of ownership, as
home, as investment, and as a legal institution. It is argued that the 2022 Act
reveals the adaptive resilience of the legal institution of property, and that property
laws must be further adapted to meet contemporary challenges of aging structures
and net-zero.
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