My Lords, I must thank noble Lords for their contributions to this debate. I am not sure; maybe we are close to that point where we can say, “One more heave”. I want quickly to turn to Amendment 94 and Motion D1, the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, to the Government’s Motion D, where she disagrees with the Government. I explained in my opening speech the reasoning behind our Amendment 94A and I do not propose to repeat my arguments. I simply remind noble Lords that the approach the Government have proposed is sensible. Setting the threshold at 11 metres will help restore proportionality to the system, as also argued by my noble friend Lady Neville-Rolfe, and the Government have committed to consult on how best leaseholders in collectively enfranchised and commonhold buildings can be protected. On timescales, in response to my noble friend, I think we said “soon”. I shall strengthen that and say “as soon as possible”. That is a big concession.
I turn to Motion H1 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman, as an amendment to the Government’s Motion H. It would replace a zero cap in a previous amendment with £250 for leaseholder contributions, while Motion H2 in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, disagrees with the Government’s caps.
Motion H1 would make changes to the leaseholder contribution caps in Schedule 8 and reduce them to £250, up from the zero cap in her previous amendment. Motion H2 disagrees with the Government’s Motion and would return the caps to zero. As I said in my opening speech, the Government have been clear that setting the leaseholder contribution caps to zero or to a nominal level, such as £250 or £25 a year for 10 years, would not be a proportionate approach. I reiterate the Government’s commitment to protecting leaseholders. Indeed, it is hard to overstate how far-reaching our proposed protections are. They represent a hugely significant and robust improvement on the existing position for leaseholders.
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I shall briefly respond to two important questions raised by my noble friend Lord Young of Cookham. The developer pledge will require developers to tackle life-critical fire safety issues in buildings they have had a role in developing. If freeholders are acting proportionately, we do not expect that additional work will be required in most cases. If any such additional work is required, the leaseholder protections in the Bill will apply, as I have outlined on many occasions.
On my noble friend’s question about so-called orphan buildings, also raised by the noble Earl, Lord Lytton, the Government do not think that this is a problem. A funded plan is in place for the removal of unsafe cladding. Freeholders will not have to bear those costs. For non-cladding defects, freeholders will be able to recover some funds from leaseholders and from other landlords with an interest in the building. The ambitious toolkit of measures in the Bill will allow them to pursue those directly responsible for defects through the courts.
Through these measures, we believe that costs can be spread equitably across the system, meaning that no single party will face costs they cannot afford. Should any freeholder seek to avoid their responsibilities by, for example, declaring themselves insolvent, orphaning their buildings, there are powers in the Bill to extract funds from them and their associates, including through the insolvency process.
I hope that, with those further explanations, noble Lords will be content to support the Government’s amendments today—but I expect not.