Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask His Majesty's Government, with reference to their Research and Analysis Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - June 2025, updated on 2 October, what are the reasons for the difference between (1) their new estimate as of January 2025 for the total number of mid-rise residential buildings with dwellings in England of 39,000–59,000, and (2) the previous estimate published in 2021 of 71,000–79,000, in the context of the margin of uncertainty increasing from 8,000 to 20,000.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A description of the methodology for the revised estimate as of January 2025 can be found in the technical note that accompanies the monthly data release. It can be found here: Building Safety Technical Note June 2025
The revised estimates are based on the recently released Ordnance Survey National Geographic Database data which was not available when the original estimates were calculated. The key assumptions section of the Technical Note refers to the use of Ordnance Survey unique building identifiers in the higher building ranges and this was a key driver for the increase in the range of uncertainty.
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 latest estimate for the total number of dwellings in mid-rise residential buildings in England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are an estimated 858,000 – 1,298,000 dwellings in mid-rise (11-18m) residential buildings in England.
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 latest estimate they have made of the number of dwellings in mid-rise residential buildings in England.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
There are an estimated 858,000 – 1,298,000 dwellings in mid-rise (11-18m) residential buildings in England.
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 construction products and materials relating to the interior construction of buildings, if any, they have prohibited or restricted since 2017.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Combustible materials in and on the external walls of new residential buildings higher than 18 metres were banned in 2018.
The Building Regulations 2010 set functional requirements for fire safety, including the need for internal linings and structural elements to inhibit fire spread and maintain stability.
More broadly, in 2021, the Government appointed the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) as the National Regulator for Construction Products (NRCP) to regulate construction products placed on the UK market. The NRCP and local authorities have powers to enforce the law where products do not comply with the Construction Products Regulations 2013. The regulator has prohibited the supply of construction products including certain insulation, toughened glass, and plywood. Following the Grenfell Tower Inquiry's report, the Government has committed to bringing forward reforms to ensure that all construction products supplied in the UK are safe.
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 standard building safety assessors use when assessing fire-safety defects other than defects of external wall systems to determine whether a defect is life-critical.
Answered by Baroness Taylor of Stevenage - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 requires that building safety risks in Higher Risk Buildings are assessed, managed and controlled. The assessment must be suitable and sufficient and all reasonable steps must be taken to manage and control the building safety risks.
The Act does not set out specific standards that should be used. However, standards and guidance relevant to other regulatory regimes such as the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 and BS 9792:2025 Fire Risk Assessment. Housing. Code of Practice will be relevant. Assessors can also refer to the published criteria used by the Building Safety Regulator for Building Assessment Certificate applications.
The assessment of ‘life critical fire safety defects’ does not form part of the Act. It is instead a feature of the Developers’ Remediation Contract and the Responsible Actors Scheme, which encompass a wider range of buildings.
Asked by: Earl of Lytton (Crossbench - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many residential mortgages were handled by or on behalf of UK Asset Resolution in each 12-month period beginning with 1 July 2017; for each period what were (1) the number of compulsory repossessions and sales of underlying security; (2) the average surplus or shortfall realised upon sale of a security as a percentage of the stated mortgage acquisition cost; (3) the number of mortgagors against whom action was initiated after a sale to recover a shortfall in proceeds; and (4) the average administrative costs charged to mortgagors in respect of the combined property repossession, forced sale, and debt recovery processes.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) sold its former subsidiaries (Bradford and Bingley and NRAM, formerly part of Northern Rock) and the remaining mortgage assets of those subsidiaries in 2021. As a result neither UKAR nor HM Treasury can directly access the relevant account level data that is required to answer these questions. This data is owned by UKAR’s former subsidiaries.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 - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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 - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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 - Shadow Minister (Housing, Communities and Local Government)
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.