Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to help protect leaseholders from paying the costs of non-cladding related fire safety defects, such as defective fire doors.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The new funding schemes will make sure leaseholders never pay a penny to fix dangerous cladding.
On non-cladding, we are clear that we have to make sure there is a proportionate approach – there are too many incentives currently to try to find new problems and declare buildings unsafe. We recognise there is a specific heightened safety risk with cladding which can accelerate fires. That is why our new plan to apply common sense is so important. If there are any remaining non-cladding costs, we want to support leaseholders across the board – they should not be bearing an unfair burden.
That is why:
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that property developers are responsible for covering the remedial costs of fire safety defects; and what steps he is taking give those undertakings a statutory footing.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As the Secretary of State announced on 10 January, building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders, and leaseholders living in their own medium and high-rise buildings should not pay a penny to remediate historic cladding defects that are no fault of their own.
It is also wrong to look to the taxpayer for another bailout for manufacturers and developers who created and installed dangerous fire safety building systems. Instead, we are clear that industry must develop a solution to resolve the problems they have caused and pay to fix them. If they do not agree to solving this crisis, we will look to impose a solution in legislation.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Answer to the hon. Member for Putney on 29 November 2021, Official Report, column 658, what progress he has made in ensuring leaseholders are not responsible to pay for remediation works.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon Member to my answer to Question UIN 94569 on 5 January 2022.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that banks are not requesting EWS1 forms for buildings that are under 18 meters.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
An independent expert statement in July this year was clear that there is no systemic risk of fire in residential buildings under 18 metres and that EWS1s should not be required by lenders on buildings under 18 metres. The Government continues to challenge industry on the use of the EWS1 process, as well as pressing for more data in order to understand how the RICS guidance is being applied, and the impact of the process on mortgage applications.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether he is taking steps to regulate EWS1 surveys to prevent erroneous assessment outcomes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
An EWS1 form is not a statutory requirement nor a safety ‘test’. It is not a replacement for a fire risk assessment which is a regulatory requirement, carried out by a competent professional. The Government has provided the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) with nearly £700,000 to develop and deliver training for assessors to carry out external wall system assessments. Additionally, RICS have published a list of professionals suitable to sign an EWS1 form.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support his Department is putting in place for leaseholders that have an EWS1 assessment that is under 18 meters and has been classified as a B2 property.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
An EWS1 assessment is a valuation tool and not a safety assessment. Where remediation is recommended supporting material should be transparent and alternatives such as mitigation should have been clearly considered. Leaseholders may seek second opinions if they are concerned about the recommendations. The Government is examining what more can be done to protect leaseholders from unnecessary costs.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when the Government plans to publish its response to the consultation on raising accessible housing standards for new homes which closed on 1 December 2020.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
I refer the Hon Member to the answer I gave to Question UIN 80458 on 1 December 2021.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of making the provision of public toilets a statutory duty for local authorities.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Local authorities are best placed to make decisions about public toilet provision in their localities. In this year’s Settlement, the Government made available an increase in Core Spending Power in England from £49 billion in 2020-21 to up to £51.3 billion in 2021-22, a 4.6% increase in cash terms. This recognises the resources councils need to meet their pressures and maintain current service levels.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether all new homes will meet the accessible and adaptable standard following the consultation on raising accessibility standards for new homes.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are currently considering responses to the consultation on raising accessibility standards and will publish a government response setting out next steps as soon as possible.
Asked by: Marsha De Cordova (Labour - Battersea)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, when his Department plans to respond to the consultation on raising accessible housing standards.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are currently considering responses to the consultation on raising accessibility standards and will publish a government response setting out next steps as soon as possible.