Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on remediation works to remove Aluminium Composite Material from (a) public and (b) social buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The impact of Covid-19 on ACM remediation has been published in the Building Safety Programme’s monthly data release since the April 2020 data release (published 14 May 2020). The latest information is available in the July data release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-july-2020.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many and what proportion of applications to the Aluminium Composite Material remediation fund from local authorities have been successful.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The latest information on the Social Sector ACM Cladding Remediation Fund is available in the Building Safety Programme’s monthly data release here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-july-2020.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the average timeframe is for processing an application to the Aluminium Composite Material remediation fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
Information related to progress of applications to the Private Sector Remediation Fund is reported in the Building Safety Programme’s monthly data release. It was first reported in the October 2019 data release (published 14 November 2019). The latest information is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-july-2020
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 of buildings guidance issued by the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on the sale of leasehold properties in buildings (a) under and (b) over 18 meters in height.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The Minister for Building Safety is aware that lenders are taking a cautious approach to lending on leasehold properties of all heights, where there may be unsafe external wall systems and where the building owner is unable to evidence the safety of the building.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
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 review the budget allocated to the Aluminium Composite Material Remediation fund.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The £600 million funding which the Government has allocated for the remediation of buildings with unsafe ACM cladding is expected to be sufficient to meet demand. Government funding is not the only means of remediating high-rise residential buildings with unsafe ACM cladding. Building owners are expected to play a part in ensuring that their buildings are made safe.
In more than half of the cases where there is ACM cladding on private sector residential blocks, the original developer or current building owner has agreed to pay or there has been a warranty in place to cover the remediation costs, without passing these on to leaseholders. Whether provided by Government or other sources, availability of funding to protect leaseholders from these costs should not be a barrier for ACM remediation to take place.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to mortgage lenders in relation to the scope of recent buildings safety advice provided by the Independent Expert Advisory Panel.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
My department has not issued specialist advice to lenders on this topic. The ‘Advice for Building Owners of Multi-storey, multi occupancy residential buildings’, published on 20th January 2020 is advice for Building Owners. It is not advice, or guidance, to the financial services industry.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February 2020 to Question 8381 on Buildings, whether the Government plans to publish further guidance on (a) when an EWS1 form should be completed and (b) who should complete form.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
The EWS1 form was developed by industry, led by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The Department has not issued any guidance in relation to use of the EWS1 form, nor are there plans to do so. The Government is continuing to engage with industry, including RICS, on wider valuation issues around high rise residential buildings.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2020 to Question 12405 on Buildings, if his Department will (a) make an assessment of the potential merits of bringing into public ownership those residential buildings where there has been an abject failure of many building owners to do the right thing and (b) remove unsafe cladding materials from those buildings.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
It is the Government’s priority to ensure that residents are safe. We are clear that unsafe ACM cladding must be replaced swiftly. Where insufficient progress is being made, building owners can expect further action to be taken, including enforcement.
In the Queen’s Speech, the Government announced legislation which will put beyond doubt that the Fire Safety Order applies to external walls (including cladding) and individual flat entrance doors in multi-occupied residential buildings. This will affirm Fire and Rescue Services’ enforcement role for these buildings.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 12 February 2020 to Question 12405 on Buildings, what steps his Department will take to recoup the £200 million provided from the public purse to rectify the abject failure of many building owners to do the right thing and remove unsafe cladding materials from privately owned residential structures.
Answered by Christopher Pincher
As a condition of funding, Applicants are expected to take all reasonable steps to recover the cost of replacing unsafe ACM cladding from those responsible. This will be repaid to Government once recouped.
Asked by: Vicky Foxcroft (Labour - Lewisham North)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 31 January 2020 to Question 8382 on Buildings: Fire Prevention, what assessment his Department has made of the implications for its policies of mortgage lenders' responses to its Advice for Building Owners of Multi-storey, Multi-occupied residential buildings document.
Answered by Esther McVey
'Building safety advice for building owners, including fire doors', published in January 2020, provides the latest advice for building owners concerned about the fire safety of their building/s. It is not a compliance document for mortgage lenders. Government is continuing to engage with the mortgage industry to understand its approach to risk.