High Rise Flats: Insulation

(asked on 15th October 2021) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if local authorities will provide housing assistance to leaseholders at risk of (a) bankruptcy or (b) homelessness as a result of capital costs of removing and replacing unsafe non-ACM cladding systems not met by the Building Safety Fund.


Answered by
Christopher Pincher Portrait
Christopher Pincher
This question was answered on 25th October 2021

This Government has committed £5.1 billion of grant funding through the Building Safety Fund for the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding on residential buildings over 18 metres. The Secretary of State is looking closely at this issue to make sure everything is being done to support leaseholders. Further detail on the support for leaseholders with unsafe cladding in residential buildings of 11 - 18 metres will be released when all options have been fully considered. We continue to examine what more can be done to protect and support leaseholders.

Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure that buildings are safe. All routes to meet costs, for example through warranties and recovering costs from contractors for incorrect or poor work should be explored. The Building Safety Bill also contains measures to protect leaseholders by providing a legal requirement for building owners to prove they have tried all routes to cover the cost of essential safety works, along with evidence that this has been done. If this does not happen, leaseholders will be able to challenge these costs in the courts.

The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017 places duties on local housing authorities to take reasonable steps to try to prevent and relieve a person's homelessness. Local authorities must work with people at risk of losing their homes to develop personalised housing plans, tailored to focus on the needs and circumstances of the household.

We have provided local authorities with £310 million through the Homelessness Prevention Grant this year to support those at risk of homelessness. Local authorities may use homelessness funding flexibly in line with local need.

Reticulating Splines