Flats: Insulation

(asked on 29th March 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make it his policy to provide financial support for buy to let owners of multiple flats facing cladding remediation costs.


Answered by
Stuart Andrew Portrait
Stuart Andrew
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
This question was answered on 19th April 2022

Over 35 developers have agreed to take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical, fire-safety defects on buildings 11 metres and over that they had a role in developing or refurbishing over the past 30 years. This includes non-cladding.

In addition to the commitment made by firms to fix buildings they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years we will establish a new 11-18m cladding remediation scheme through which to fund work on buildings where a responsible developer cannot be identified. The new scheme will be funded by expanding the scope of the Building Safety Levy to raise an additional estimated £3bn, providing the necessary funds to address cladding issues on these remaining buildings.

In addition, leaseholders who are buy-to-let landlords are able to benefit from funding from the Building Safety Fund for eligible remediation works on residential buildings 18 metres and above in England, subject to the relevant subsidy control requirements. Eligibility criteria for the Building Safety Fund can be found in the Building Safety Fund Prospectus at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#prospectus---outlining-eligibility-for-the-fund(opens) and specific guidance on subsidy control and declarations can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#subsidy-control-guidance-and-declaration(opens ).

The Building Safety Bill introduces further leasehold protections. It eradicates the idea that leaseholders should be the first port of call to pay to fix historical building safety defects. Those responsible, and otherwise those with the broadest shoulders, will be the first who are required to pay. Where there is no party that clearly should pay in full for non-cladding defects, and only in this scenario, our approach spreads the costs and ensures above all that the most vulnerable leaseholders are protected. Importantly, any leaseholder contributions for non-cladding defects and interim measures will be subject to a fixed cap. Going forward, most qualifying leaseholders will pay less than the cap, and many will pay nothing at all.

Reticulating Splines