Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether homeowners of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding that missed the registration deadline of 3 July 2020 can still make an application to the Building Safety Fund by the 30 June 2021 application deadline.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
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. We will publish more details on how the additional funding will work alongside the existing funds soon.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether homeowners of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding need to register for the Building Safety Fund before making an application.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
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. We will publish more details on how the additional funding will work alongside the existing funds soon.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether homeowners of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding are still able to register for the Building Safety Fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
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. We will publish more details on how the additional funding will work alongside the existing funds soon.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to issue the guidance announced on 10 February 2021 for the finance scheme to provide reassurance for leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18 metres, or 4 to 6 storeys, for cladding removal.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government is conscious of the need to make any financing scheme affordable for leaseholders, which is why we have said that the financing scheme will have a £50 a month cap. Further details of the financing scheme will be made available as soon as we are able.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of financial advice services available to leaseholders of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding that are facing interim remedial costs and increased building insurance premiums.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government recognises residents’ concerns about the cost of waking watch measures. That is why we collected and published information on waking watch costs, available at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs. The data also illustrates that alarm systems can provide a more cost-effective means of protecting resident safety. We are therefore providing £30 million in funding to pay for the costs of installing an alarm system in buildings with unsafe cladding. The Waking Watch Relief Fund opened on 31 January 2021 to all eligible Social sector buildings in England, and all private sector buildings except those in Greater London. All applications have now been submitted and are being processed. In Greater London, the fund opened on 18 March for 6 weeks and is being administered by the GLA. Common alarm systems will enable costly waking watch measures to be replaced in buildings waiting to have unsafe cladding removed.
We are aware that some leaseholders have received significant increases in their insurance premiums where their block has building safety concerns. We are working with the insurance industry to understand this issue and are engaging with a range of proposals put forward to address it. We are encouraging insurers to take a proportionate approach to risk.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the mental health of leaseholders at high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding of their homes being classed as not fire-safe.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
MHCLG has regular engagement with leaseholder groups and recognises the effect on residents living in high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding. That is why the Government is investing over £5 billion to remediate high rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding.
Mental health is one of the Government’s top priorities and we are working across Government to ensure that all people, regardless of their residential situation, get the help and support they need. Where residents of buildings fitted with flammable cladding need mental health support, they should make contact with their GP to discuss these issues so they may be referred to mental health services as appropriate. In addition, we are working with the NHS, Public Health England and MIND, develop resources signposting all residents to key services to help those concerned about their mental health and financial situation.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of offering council tax exemption to leaseholders at high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Government currently has no plans to introduce new council tax exemptions. Council tax contributes to a range of vital public services, including those which are at the forefront of the Covid-19 response. We are providing over £5 billion to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding, making homes safer, more quickly.
Asked by: Royston Smith (Conservative - Southampton, Itchen)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what financial support is available to leaseholders at high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding who are issued with increased insurance premiums as a result of their buildings being classed as not fire-safe.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
We are aware that some leaseholders have received significant increases in their insurance premiums where their block has building safety concerns. We are working with the insurance industry to understand this issue and are engaging with a range of proposals put forward to address it. We are encouraging insurers to take a proportionate approach to risk.
With an unprecedented over £5 billion investment in building safety, including £3.5 billion announced in February 2021, leaseholders will now need to pay either nothing, or up to £50 per month towards fixing the problem. This helps gives lenders certainty both that the cladding will be remediated, and of the total potential financial implications for a leaseholder and their property.
This announcement is therefore an important step towards restoring confidence in the housing market. It provides certainty for lenders where unsafe cladding is present and complements the wider work we have underway to continue to develop a proportionate risk-based regulatory environment on fire safety.