Labour will hold a vote on Monday to force government action on
the cladding scandal and protect millions of leaseholders from
life-changing cladding costs and unsellable properties.
Almost four years on from the Grenfell tragedy, the Government
has failed to get a grip of the cladding scandal, which is now
estimated to affect millions of homes and as much as 16 per cent
of Britain’s housing stock.
Despite repeated promises from Ministers that leaseholders would
not bear the cost of fixing problems they did not cause, innocent
residents are facing lockdown in flammable buildings, colossal
bills for repair work (in some cases, bankruptcy) and hundreds of
pounds per month on interim safety measures such as ‘waking
watch’.
Labour’s motion calls on the Government to:
- urgently establish the extent of dangerous cladding and
prioritise buildings according to risk;
- provide upfront funding to ensure cladding remediation can
start immediately;
- protect leaseholders and taxpayers from the cost by pursuing
those responsible for the cladding crisis.
The move comes as Labour has tabled an amendment to the Fire
Safety Bill to prevent building owners from passing unreasonable
costs on to leaseholders. A similar amendment tabled by
Conservative MPs and
has been signed by 27 Tory MPs.
,
Labour’s Shadow Housing Secretary, said:
“Millions of innocent leaseholders are seeing their dream of home
ownership become a nightmare, forced to spend lockdown trapped in
unsafe and unsellable flats, with bills mounting. The number of
bankruptcies is growing.
“Government inaction on the cladding scandal has gone on for too
long. Buildings must be made safe and residents must be
protected. Ministers have consistently promised leaseholders they
would not have to pay for this work, but consistently failed to
deliver.
“Conservative MPs will have the chance to vote to ensure that the
Government keeps its promise and leaseholders are not burdened
with the cost of fixing problems they did not cause.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The Opposition Day debate motion, tabled today, is as follows:
Thangam Debbonaire
Protecting tenants and leaseholders from unsafe cladding
That this House calls on the Government to urgently establish
the extent of dangerous cladding and prioritise buildings
according to risk; provide upfront funding to ensure cladding
remediation can start immediately; protect leaseholders and
taxpayers from the cost by pursuing those responsible for the
cladding crisis; and update Parliament once a month in the form
of a Written Ministerial Statement by the Secretary of
State.
