Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, in the light of the conclusion in standard PAS 9980:2022 that the potential for rapid fire spread, even in a low rise building, results in a risk that is “unacceptably high”, what is their estimate of the current number of buildings of a height of 11 metres or lower which are at such risk due to combustible external elements.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
For over two years, the Department has been examining under 11m buildings on a case-by-case basis where leaseholders have raised cladding safety concerns to us. To date, three under 11m buildings have been identified where remediation is needed to make the building safe. Because life safety fire risk is also related to building height, the risk to life from historic cladding fire safety defects is usually lower in buildings under 11m and we expect there to be very few cases of such buildings with unsafe cladding that presents a high risk.
Of the 35 cases seen by the department, where a Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall (FRAEW) conducted in accordance with the latest PAS 9980 guidance has recommended remediation, our audits have found that lower-cost mitigations like a fire alarm or significantly scaled-back works were a more proportionate response to the risks presented by the building’s external wall. The risk to life is generally proportionate to the height of buildings. This position is supported by the guidance produced by the BSI for external wall assessors, on which the starting presumption is that low-rise buildings ought normally to be placed in the low-risk category with a more stringent fire safety performance specified for buildings over 18 m in height.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government which types of defect data they collect when assessing the prevalence of non-cladding defects in residential buildings.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department receives quarterly updates from Registered Providers of social housing on progress towards remediating buildings for which they are the Responsible Entity. This includes data on buildings with external and/or internal life-critical fire safety defects. In addition to unsafe cladding, relevant defects may include but are not limited to: compartmentation between dwellings or between dwellings and common parts; inadequate fire stopping or fire barriers; incorrect or missing fire escape signage; inadequate or defective fire detection and alarm systems; unprotected means of escape; and inadequate or defective firefighting equipment or installations.
The Department also receives quarterly updates from developers that have signed the developer remediation contract. This too includes data on buildings with external and/ or internal life-critical fire safety defects.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to ensuring that building owners, whether freeholders, commonhold associations or enfranchised leaseholders, who are required to remedy non ‘life-critical fire safety defects’ have an automatic remedy against the person responsible for the defective construction.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Interested parties including freeholders, leaseholders, commonhold associations or enfranchised leaseholders can potentially look to pursue a previous freeholder, developer and any associated company or person for remediation costs through a remediation contribution order. They also have the potential to pursue developers, contractors, or manufacturers where they are liable for defects which meant one or more dwelling in the building was not fit for habitation when the relevant works were completed.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact that construction defects relating to fire safety in residential blocks have on the asset value of those buildings.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Department does not hold information on the impact of construction defects, relating to fire safety, on the asset value of whole buildings. However, I refer the Earl of Lytton to the answer given to Question UIN 22129 On 24 April 2024 on the selling price of individual flats.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what is their definition of "life-critical defects" in relation to fire safety risks in buildings.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The definition of “life-critical defects” is in Annex 1 of the developer remediation contract.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government by what date they expect all buildings over 11 metres that require a work assessment to have had their assessments completed.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
Developers that signed the developer remediation contract are required to assess and remediate relevant buildings as soon as reasonably practicable. The length of time it may reasonably take to assess and remediate a building will vary depending on factors including the scale of works required, co-operation of third parties in granting access to the building and finalising a works contract, and risk-based prioritisation by the developer of assessments and remedial works across the portfolio of buildings for which the developer is responsible.
The Government publishes monthly data on progress that developers have made towards assessing and remediating buildings for which they are responsible under the contract.
As at end of November 2023, fire risks assessments had been undertaken on 97.6% of all buildings reported 11m+ in height which are the responsibility of social housing providers, with a further 1.5% planned in the next nine months. As at end January 2024, developers had yet to obtain an assessment for 1,607 of the 4,614 11m+ buildings for which developers had accepted responsibility under the developer remediation contract.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether the total number of buildings for which developers have accepted responsibility for remediation under their contract is now confirmed to be 4614, as indicated in the Developer Remediation Contract Data Release: January 2024.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
As of 31 January 2024, developers that signed the remediation contract had accepted responsibility for 4,614 buildings. Of the 4,614 buildings covered by the contract, 1,501 buildings (33%) have been identified as having life-critical fire safety defects that require remediation under the terms of the contract.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was their rationale for the short duration of the call for evidence in relation to jointly owned leasehold properties, from Thursday 21 March to Friday 5 April.
Answered by Baroness Swinburne
The Government has discretion about the length of calls for evidence.
In this instance, the call ran from Thursday 21 March to Friday 5 April 2024 and as a result this was a short duration.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the Local Government Association's report Local service delivery and place-shaping: A framework to support parish and town councils, published on 11 August 2021; and what plans they have to raise awareness of the report in central and local government.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognise that parish and town councils play an important role in improving the quality of life and well-being of their communities. Parish and town councils often have a close understanding of what their communities want and that is why we fully encourage schemes that support their achievements and frameworks that help improve local service delivery.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to celebrate parish and town councils that have received an award through the Local Council Award Scheme.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
The Government recognise that parish and town councils play an important role in improving the quality of life and well-being of their communities. Parish and town councils often have a close understanding of what their communities want and that is why we fully encourage schemes that support their achievements and frameworks that help improve local service delivery.