Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his oral contribution of 20 January 2020, Official Report columns 24-36, whether his Department's consultation on reducing the height at which the combustible ban applies from 18 metres to 11 metres is proposed to apply to (a) existing and (b) new buildings.
Following consultation if the scope of the ban is changed in line with the proposals in the consultation, the ban would continue to apply only to new buildings, those undergoing a material change of use, and other building work as defined in the Building Regulations.
The ban does not apply to existing buildings where no work is being carried out. In these instances, we consider that a case by case risk-based approach to fire safety is most appropriate, in line with the advice already issued by MHCLG and the Independent Expert Panel, and as proposed by Dame Judith Hackitt in her independent review.