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 providing grants to housing associations to buy back homes from shared ownership leaseholders unable to sell their homes due to delays in completing building safety remediation works.

Social housing providers have the option to repurchase homes where shared owners are unable to sell due to building safety issues. This is not an automatic entitlement for shared owners and is available at providers’ discretion. Providers will have their own policies setting out when this option is available, including any relevant eligibility criteria. These policies should be published on providers’ websites.

Ten mortgage lenders have signed a joined statement confirming they will lend on properties in buildings before they have been remediated. Leaseholders, including shared owners, should be able to sell their homes even where there are delays in remediation works.

We are taking the steps necessary to accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings and improve outcomes for residents of all tenures, including working closely with partners across the social housing sector to identify barriers to remediation and ways to overcome them. Further announcements will be made shortly.