Cladding Remediation

Debate between Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage

Monday 25th November 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

My Lords, I am very glad to say that we now have a Government, and a Deputy Prime Minister who is responsible for this area, who take this incredibly seriously. We will soon be publishing a remediation acceleration plan, which outlines the specific measures we are going to take to increase the pace of remediation, to find all the at-risk buildings quicker and to ensure that the residents at the heart of this terrible issue are supported in the process. There is no longer any excuse for those responsible failing to fix dangerous cladding on their buildings. The message is clear: use the routes we have created to get buildings fixed, and get on with the job.

The Deputy Prime Minister recently held a national roundtable with mayors, regulators and national building safety bodies to press home the urgency of this work, and most developers have now signed up now to the plan that she set out. But please be assured that we will not hesitate to use enforcement measures, and we have provided local authorities with funding to undertake the enforcement necessary.

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab)]

My Lords, there are still limits to access to funding for social landlords, despite the welcome measures the Government have taken already on funding, meaning that those with the lowest incomes still have to pay for unsafe buildings to be fixed, when private developers profited from constructing them. Will my noble friend respond to End our Cladding Scandal’s call for housing associations to have the same access to the building safety fund and the cladding safety scheme as private building owners?

Social Housebuilding

Debate between Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe and Baroness Taylor of Stevenage

Monday 21st October 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have to build capacity in councils and housing associations within the next three months to increase the building of new social homes.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (Baroness Taylor of Stevenage) (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend for her Question and for all the work she has done to support the social housing sector. The Government are committed to the biggest growth in social and affordable housing for a generation, but we recognise that councils and housing associations need support to build their capacity. In July, we announced steps to help with delivery, including flexibilities in the current affordable homes programme and for councils to use right-to-buy receipts. We will set out plans in the Budget at the end of this month to give councils and housing associations the rent stability they need to borrow and invest in both new and existing homes.

[Baroness Warwick of Undercliffe (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for her very helpful and hopeful reply. Recent statistics from the ministry show that, in the year 2023-24, 320,000 households faced or experienced homelessness—an 8% rise on the previous year and the highest on record. Recent research by the NHF, Savills and the HBF warned that, without much more social housing, the Government are set to miss their target of 1.5 million homes. A significant uptick in social housing is vital to plug that gap. Will my noble friend explore the options of a one-year extension to the affordable housing programme in the upcoming October Budget? Extension of the current AHP by one year would be an important first step to increase delivery and capacity in the social housing sector.

[Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)]

At the risk of repeating my noble friend Lord Livermore, the content of the Budget is of course a matter for the Chancellor of the Exchequer. However, the package we announced in July included flexibility in the current affordable homes programme to help with delivery and extended the 2021-26 affordable homes programme. We have been clear that we will bring forward details of future government investment in social and affordable housing at the spending review. We know how important it is to enable providers to plan for the future as they help to deliver the biggest increase in affordable housing in a generation.