Responding to warnings by government that developers must pay to
fix cladding crisis, Cllr David Renard, housing spokesperson for
the Local Government Association, which represents 350 councils
across England and Wales, said:
“No leaseholder should have to pay the costs of making their
homes safe and the Secretary of State’s threat to use the
legal system to ensure developers meet their
responsibilities to leaseholders is a positive step in the
right direction. However, leaseholders are not the only innocent
victims of the construction industry’s failure to build safe
homes.
“The construction industry must also be made to fix the fire
safety defects it has built into blocks owned by councils and
housing associations. Unless the Government forces the industry
to act – or provides funding – we are concerned that the costs of
fixing social housing blocks will fall on council housing revenue
accounts and housing associations.
"This will reduce the funding available to meet the Government’s
ambitions for improvements to social housing, net zero and the
provision of new social housing, leaving tenants and those on the
waiting list to suffer the consequences of decades of industry
failure and poor regulation. Like leaseholders, council tenants
and those on the waiting list are innocent victims and the
Government needs to help them too."
