Cladding: High-rise Buildings

Earl of Lytton Excerpts

Tuesday 17th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, the noble Lord speaks with great expertise and makes a very important point. This Government have been taking decisive action to address the building safety crisis so that residents do not need to wait a day longer than necessary to feel safe in their homes. We continue to work closely with industry, local authorities and residents to accelerate remediation efforts while ensuring that those responsible for unsafe buildings cover the costs. On the important point of insurance, work has been ongoing to reduce building insurance premiums for leaseholders. On lending, we have seen improvements for leaseholders who previously found themselves unable to sell or remortgage their homes, but we will remain vigilant and continue to hold the 10 major lenders to account following their commitment to lend on properties even if remediation is not yet complete.

[The Earl of Lytton (CB)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware of the divergent opinions of fire safety remediation standards under what is known as PAS 9980, and in particular the undefined metrics of proportionality and tolerable risk which still leave residential blocks such as Meath Crescent, Bethnal Green, and Royal Artillery Quays in Greenwich, and thousands of others, with combustible elements which should never have been included under the building regulations applicable at the time of construction. What is his department doing to address the resultant long-term degradation referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, but also the basic failure to meet construction standards in regulation at the time of construction? What is happening about that?

[Lord Khan of Burnley (Lab)]

My Lords, as part of the work set out in our remediation acceleration plan, we intend that by the end of 2029, all 18 metre-plus high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding in a government funded scheme will have been remediated. Our intention is that every building of 11 metres-plus with unsafe cladding will have been remediated or have a completion date, or the landlord will be liable for severe penalties. On 26 February, the Government published the Construction Products Reform Green Paper, which sets out comprehensive proposals for system-wide reforms of the construction products regime. The Green Paper is a significant step towards a construction products regime that has safety at its heart. We welcome the extensive engagement from across the sector.