Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of appointing a building safety tsar to develop a building safety remediation programme to ensure that companies responsible for poor building safety (a) undertake any necessary remediation work and (b) pay compensation to homeowners and leaseholders in those buildings.

Since the Grenfell fire we have introduced funded remediation programmes to tackle historical safety defects. In addition, the National Building Safety Regulator, led by the Chief Inspector for Buildings ensures new buildings are designed, constructed and managed safely. They are also taking enforcement action against those that do not remediate their high-rise buildings.

54 of the largest developers have signed the developer remediation contract committing them to carrying out all necessary work to address life-critical fire-safety defects arising from the design, construction or refurbishment of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed or refurbished in England over the 30 years ending on 4 April 2022. Between them, they have taken responsibility for the remediation of more than 1,600 buildings at a cost to themselves of around £3.3 billion. Developers face significant consequences if they fail to comply with their contractual obligations.

Further steps to increase the pace of remediation will be set out soon.

The Building Safety Act introduced powers that allows any interested person to recover costs incurred for the remediation of a building via Remediation Contribution Orders. Further, where remediation is needed and not progressing due to the building owner’s inaction, Remediation Orders (ROs) can be sought to require a building owner fix their building. The courts have also been granted new powers to extend civil liability for defects to companies associated with either the landlord or developer. In addition to the Building Safety Act, local regulators can utilise powers under the Housing Act 2004 (Local Authorities) or Fire Safety Order 2005 (Fire and Rescue Services) to force a building owner to fix identified defects in a building within a set timescale.

Protections under the Building Safety Act 2022 ensure that qualifying leaseholders will only be required to make capped contributions towards relevant, non-cladding defects and interim measures and in some cases will be exempt from all costs.