Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Government will publish the findings of the review into the ban on combustible materials.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
On 20 January 2020 we launched a public consultation including proposals to expand the scope of the in-effect ban of combustible materials in and on the external walls. This also included proposals with regards to laminated glass as well as other exemptions. The consultation closed on the 25 May 2020. We continue to analyse the responses and will publish the Government response to the consultation in due course.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he will publish the findings of the audit of high-rise residential buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department publishes data on the number of high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings in England with Aluminum Composite Material cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations. The latest data is available here . The Department has commenced a data collection exercise which will enable us to build a picture of external wall systems in use on high rise residential buildings. The exercise will collect data on residential buildings 18 metres and over covering private and social buildings, student accommodation and hotels. We will publish appropriate summary information from the data collection in our monthly Building Safety Programme data release when ready.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how (a) private landlords and (b) leaseholders can apply for grants under the non-ACM combustible cladding remediation fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The registration process for the fund opened on 1 June, after publication of the Building Safety Fund prospectus on 26 May. The registration form for building owners is available on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings . The closing date for registrations is the 31 July at which point building owners will then be able to apply for grant funding. Leaseholders are not able to register individually and should talk to their building owners about their intentions to register to the fund. If leaseholders are concerned about the response they get from their building owner, they can complete the leaseholder feedback form at the above link to register building details.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the non-ACM remediation fund to cover the removal of all non-ACM combustible cladding and insulation on buildings over 18 metres.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The value of the Building Safety Fund has been assessed on the basis of the proportion of building owners we expect to be eligible, given Government expects that those who are already remediating their buildings should continue to do so. Building owners should also explore every opportunity to fund this work via those originally responsible for the defects and warranty claims before seeking Government funding, or passing on costs to their leaseholders.
Asked by: Margaret Hodge (Labour - Barking)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons buildings between 11 metres and 18 metres in height are excluded from the fund for the remediation of combustible non-ACM materials.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department has already funded the removal of unsafe ACM from high rise buildings over 18 metres which the Expert Panel considers to be the most severe building safety risk. The new fund is to address other unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres, as higher rise buildings are the least likely to safely evacuate in the event of a fire spreading via external cladding systems. Building owners are responsible for the safety of their buildings and should take action to remediate any unsafe cladding systems on buildings below 18 metres in accordance with the advice of the Expert Panel.