Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will extend the deadline for applications to the Building Safety Fund beyond 30 June 2021 to ensure all buildings with flammable cladding are considered.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government extended the full tender deadline for Building Safety Fund from 30 March 2021 to 30 June 2021; and the deadline to start works on site from 30 June 2021 to 30 September 2021. These deadlines were set based on information available at the time about registrants and their readiness to be able to deliver projects. The announcement on 10 February of an additional £3.5 billion of funding provides assurance for residents that all eligible applications to the Building Safety Fund will be able to proceed
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to take steps to increase the funding allocations made to eligible applicants under the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Building Safety Fund will cover all works directly related to the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems. The additional £3.5 billion announced on 10 February provides assurance for leaseholders that all eligible applications to the Building Safety Fund will be able to proceed and that Government will fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres and over in England
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will provide an update on the application status of the 53 buildings in Liverpool that have submitted 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. Application progress is communicated to registrants who we expect will ensure that their residents are kept fully informed.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will guarantee that reforms to leaseholder laws announced in January 2021 will align the Duchy of Cornwall's tenants' rights with other leaseholders in England.
Answered by Eddie Hughes
The Government is committed to promoting fairness and transparency for homeowners and ensuring that consumers are protected from abuse and poor service. We are taking forward a comprehensive programme of reform to end unfair practices in the leasehold market. In January we announced reforms to the valuation process and length of lease extensions, in response to Law Commission recommendations.
The Law Commission’s report on enfranchisement includes recommendations relating to the qualifying criteria for enfranchisement and lease extensions, including the applicability of these to leaseholders of the Crown. We will bring forward a response to these and the other remaining Law Commission recommendations in due course.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the press release of 10 February 2021, Government to bring an end to unsafe cladding with multi-billion pound intervention, whether buildings with flammable cladding of six or seven storeys but lower than 18m will be eligible for that funding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We will be publishing more details on how the additional funding for the removal of unsafe cladding announced on 10 February will work alongside existing funds.
Asked by: Kim Johnson (Labour - Liverpool Riverside)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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 Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
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.