The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee has
today launched a new inquiry into building safety and issues
relating to funding and remediation. The Committee’s inquiry will
examine the announcements made by Secretary of State in his statement to the House
of Commons on 10 January.
The full inquiry terms of reference are included further below.
, Chair of the Levelling Up,
Housing and Communities Committee, said:
“The Secretary of State’s announcements on 10 January were a
welcome step towards finally addressing the question of meeting
the costs of making residential blocks safe rather than dumping
the burden on flat-owners. Leaseholders should not be liable for
the costs of removing hazardous cladding from their buildings nor
the additional work necessary to make their flats safe.
“In our new inquiry, we want to examine the effectiveness and
impact of the Government’s planned measures to make developers
and industry pay. We also wish to scrutinise whether the
Secretary of State’s approach goes far enough to finally fix this
crisis and examine what the funding arrangement to be agreed with
industry should look like. We will also want to examine the risk
to the Department’s budget, particularly around social housing,
if it is not able to secure sufficient funds from industry.”
The public evidence sessions for this inquiry are scheduled take
place shortly and will conclude ahead of the Secretary of State’s
planned report back to the House of Commons before Easter.
Witness details will be confirmed at a later date but the LUHC
Committee is likely to seek evidence from a range of
stakeholders. The Committee is also likely to conclude its
inquiry with an evidence hearing with a Government Minister.
Building Safety Remediation and Funding inquiry - terms
of reference
The Committee welcomes evidence submissions [insert link] on the
terms of reference outlined below. Given oral evidence sessions
for this inquiry are likely to begin shortly, the Committee
welcomes early written evidence submissions. The final closing
date for submissions is Wednesday 16 February 2022.
In particular, the inquiry seeks answers to the following
questions:
- What is your assessment of the Government’s announcements on
10 January 2022 regarding building safety?
- Do the announcements go far enough, and what,
if anything, is missing?
- What are the potential impacts of the announcements? In
the case of negative impacts, how can they
be addressed?
- How might the announcements affect the wider objectives
of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities,
including the building of affordable housing?
- What would you like to see in the funding
arrangement to be agreed with industry?
