Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
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 include the replacement of wooden balconies in the eligibility criteria for the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is focussing public funding on cladding systems because unsafe cladding acts as an accelerant to fire spread and poses an exceptional fire risk at certain heights. Works which are not directly related to the remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding will not be covered by the Building Safety Fund. Balconies are therefore not included unless they are integral to the cladding. Funding for the removal of unsafe cladding will remove the biggest obstacle to remediation proceeding. Our guidance is clear that building safety is the responsibility of building owners and we have given expert advice on a range of safety issues to provide clarity.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that managing agents and building owners have sufficient time to implement an effective stage 1 schedule for Building Safety Fund support.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 115485 answered on 24 November.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
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 bear the costs of remedial works when their managing agent or building owner is unsuccessful in their application for Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is clear that it is unacceptable for leaseholders to have to worry about the cost of fixing historic safety defects in their buildings that they did not cause.
It must be recognised that it is the responsibility of building owners – not Government or the tax-payer – to ensure their buildings are safe for leaseholders and other residents. Building owners should consider all routes to meet costs, protecting leaseholders where they can – for example through warranties and recovering costs from contractors for incorrect or poor work.
The department is working on proposals to protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs caused by historic building safety defects, on which we will be providing an update.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool, Riverside)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to make decisions on the applications to the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund. We published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics and will be publishing and update.