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

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all mortgage repayments and interest payments for leasehold flats with unsafe cladding purchased under the Help to Buy Scheme have been reset to zero for those properties now valued at zero; and whether all such repayments since the Grenfell Tower fire have been reimbursed.

As at June 2020 NAO reported that Homes England estimates that 274 homes bought under the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme were affected by ACM cladding, based on a comparison of Departmental building safety data and the Homes England Help to Buy loan accounts. Of these, 170 homes across 28 buildings have live loan accounts, with the remaining 104 homes having redeemed their loan.

The redemption value of all Help to Buy: Equity Loans is based on the current market value of the property. A RICS surveyor will assess the market value in accordance with terms set out in the loan agreement.

Homes England report that most of the buildings with live Help to Buy loans are well on the way to being fully remediated and therefore the progress made in building remediation means the consistent enforcement of the mortgage continues to be reasonable.