Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 22 February 2021 to Question 153161 on Housing: Insulation, what estimate his Department has made of the number of leaseholders likely to (a) lose their home and (b) declare bankruptcy as a result of the costs of resolving fire safety issues relating to (i) cladding removal, (ii) balcony remediation, (iii) replacing combustible insulation, (iv) replacing missing fire breaks, (v) increased insurance premiums and (vi) waking watches.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The information requested is not held.
The Government has announced over £5 billion in grant towards removal of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres in height. This unprecedented investment in building safety will help hundreds of thousands of leaseholders, who will be protected from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes
Alongside this a generous finance scheme will also provide for remediation of unsafe cladding on buildings of 11-18 metres in height. Leaseholders will pay no more than £50 a month towards this scheme. We will publish more details on how these schemes will work as soon as we are in a position to do so.
These schemes will also ultimately help to end interim measures and reduce building insurance costs. They build on steps already taken to support leaseholders, including the £30 million waking watch fund to incentivise the purchase of alarm systems in buildings where there is currently a waking watch in place and there is no common alarm system.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that leaseholders do not pay for the (a) remediation of non-cladding fire safety issues in buildings above 18 metres in height and (b) removal of cladding and remediation of non-cladding fire safety issues in buildings below 18 metres in height.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This is a globally unprecedented investment in building safety and hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes. The Government has rightly targeted funding at the removal of dangerous cladding to make homes safer, quicker – the costs for remediating this are high, and the risks posed by it are also high.
Our approach prioritises action on buildings 18 metres and above, where risk to multiple households is greater when fire does spread. This is in line with longstanding expert advice on which buildings are at the highest risk.
We have gone further, and through an additional package we will provide a financing scheme for the remediation of dangerous cladding for to support remediation of buildings of between 11 and 18 metres in height. As part of this financing scheme, leaseholder payments towards remediation costs will be capped at a maximum £50 per month.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues in the Department of Health and Social Care on the mental health of leaseholders affected by fire safety issues in residential buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We recognise the difficult situation which many leaseholders have found themselves in, and the emotional strain which this has placed on many.
I continue to engage with Cabinet colleagues on these important issues, including those from DHSC.
As a result, where building owners have failed to step up, the Government has stepped in. On 10 February, the Secretary of State announced a comprehensive five-point plan which will provide for the removal of dangerous cladding in both high-rise buildings of 18 metres and above and medium-rise buildings of 11-18 metres. For high-rise buildings there will be £3.5 billion of grant funding in addition to the £1.6 billion already provided by Government, and for medium-rise buildings a generous financing scheme for cladding removal under which no leaseholder will have to pay more than £50 per month. There will also be a levy and tax on developers, recognising that the industry that caused this legacy of unsafe cladding must make a contribution to setting things right.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2021 to Question 131202 on Housing: Insulation, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the January 2020 consolidated guidance 'Building safety advice for building owners, including fire doors' on trends in (a) sales of flats, and (b) sales in the wider housing market.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
This information is not held. The consolidated advice note is non-statutory advice for building owners about the actions they should take to ensure their buildings are safe.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 16 December 2020 to Question 128640 on Flats: Insulation, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that mortgage lenders do not require EWS1 forms for (a) terraced houses, (b) houses with cladding, (c) houses that have been converted into flats, (d) maisonettes and (e) listed buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) continues to work with wider industry, including lenders, on new guidance for surveyors which should make clearer the circumstances when EWS1 valuations are, and are not, to be requested.
The RICS consultation ends on 25 January 2021: https://www.rics.org/uk/surveying-profession/contribute/consultations/valuation-of-properties-in-multi-storey-multi-occupancy-residential-buildings-with-cladding-1st-edition-guidance-note/ .
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the oral Answer of 12 January 2021, Official Report, what criteria the Government uses to assess whether a (a) developer, (b) investor or (c) building owner has the means to pay to cover remediation costs of dangerous cladding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
To tackle the most urgent building safety problems, we have made available £1.6 billion to remove unsafe cladding systems and appointed expert construction consultants to review ACM remediation timescales and to work to increase pace. There should be no excuse for delay.
Applicants to the Private Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund (PSCRF) and Building Safety Fund (BSF) are required to demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to recover the costs of replacing the unsafe cladding from those responsible.
At the application stage, we ask for information regarding such steps and may seek further information to satisfy ourselves of this position.
Where Applicants do successfully recover damages relating to the removal and replacement of unsafe cladding, the Government will expect Applicants to pay Government any amounts recovered which are referable to the removal of the unsafe cladding up to the amount of funding provided (minus any reasonable legal costs which have been incurred through pursuing cost recovery referable to the unsafe cladding).
MHCLG does not rule out seeking an assignment of relevant rights of action where it would be appropriate to do so.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answers of 11 January 2021 to Questions 131203, 132794 and 132795, what assessment he has made of the criteria where an EWS1 should not be required set out in section 2.1 of the RICS Draft UK Guidance Note Valuation of properties in multi-storey, multi-occupancy residential buildings with cladding, published on 8 January 2021.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department has seen the RICS draft guidance note, currently out for consultation, and are considering its potential implications. We await the results of the consultation which will help to make clearer the circumstances when EWS1 valuations are, and are not, to be requested.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' handling of the EWS1 process.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The RICS EWS1 process was designed to assist with valuation of high-rise residential buildings where cladding may be a concern. While there is still work to be done to provide consumers and leaseholders with the clarity they need, we have come to an agreement with RICS that flats in blocks without cladding do not need an EWS1 form, and I await the refreshed RICS EWS1 guidance with interest.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 17 December 2020 to Question 128896 on Housing: Insulation, what plans his Department has to make an estimate of the number of buildings of three storeys or fewer that have been brought into the current EWS1 process.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
There are no plans to make such an estimate at present. We have been clear that we do not believe that buildings three storeys and under should fall in to the RICS EWS1 process. RICS is working with wider industry, including lenders, on new guidance for surveyors which will make clearer the circumstances when EWS1 valuations are, and are not, to be requested.
Asked by: Andrew Gwynne (Labour - Denton and Reddish)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) Ministers in the Department for Transport and (b) local authority leaders on road signs marking historic county boundaries in line with the Government's guidance on Celebrating the historic counties of England dated 16 July 2019.
Answered by Luke Hall - Minister of State (Education)
The historic counties are an important element of our traditions which support the identity and cultures of many of our local communities. The non-statutory guidance of 16 July 2019 is designed to encourage a greater level of activity to celebrate the historic counties by setting out what local authorities can currently do in relation to these activities and referencing the relevant guidance and regulations, . The decision on whether to mark historic county boundaries on road signs is for each local highway authority, or, in the case of the Strategic Road Network, for Highways England, to consider.