Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Second Report of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee: Cladding: progress of remediation, HC 172, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of the conclusion that £15 billion may be required to address all fire safety defects in every high-rise or high-risk residential building.
Answer
The Government has made £1.6 billion of public funding available for the remediation of unsafe cladding on high rise residential buildings to make homes safer, quicker. In addition to funding the removal of unsafe cladding, Government is also providing expert technical and pre-tender financial support for successful fund applicants. The Government’s focus on unsafe cladding on high rise residential buildings reflects the exceptional fire risk that certain cladding products pose at that height, and funding will remove the biggest obstacle to remediation proceeding. Government funding should not be the only means of remediating high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding and both the Social and Private sector are expected to play a part in ensuring that their buildings are made safe. The remediation of over 50 per cent of privately owned high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding will be paid for by building owners and developers, or through warranty or insurance claims - without passing the cost to residents and leaseholders. We expect building owners and developers to step up in a similar way for other kinds of unsafe cladding.
It is unacceptable for leaseholders to have to worry about the costs of fixing historic safety defects in their buildings that they did not cause. The Government has asked Michael Wade to accelerate work with leaseholders and the financial sector to develop proposals which help to protect leaseholders, whilst also helping to protect the taxpayer, on which will be providing an update.