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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the deadline for applications to the Building Safety Fund beyond the end of June 2021.

The timelines for the Building Safety Fund were intended to incentivise building owners to speed up plans to identify and remediate unsafe buildings. The deadlines for the Fund have been set based on what we know about registrants and their readiness to be able to deliver projects. We recognise, however, that meeting these deadlines may not be possible in all circumstances, for instance where applicants find that they do not have sufficient time to complete a robust and satisfactory procurement process in order to meet the 30 June deadline to submit full applications for grant funding. More time may be permitted on a case by case basis, providing applicants continue to keep delivery partners fully informed and provide them with realistic timetables.

The announcement on 10 February of an additional £3.5 billion of funding means that leaseholders and residents in eligible buildings can be reassured that unsafe non-ACM cladding on their blocks will be replaced. All registrants should continue to ensure that everything is done to maximise the pace of remediation and to continue to make progress with their applications to the Building Safety Fund to ensure that remedial works are carried out as soon as possible.