Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps the Government is taking to make funding available to leaseholders where neither the developer nor the building owner is able to fund the essential remediation of non-cladding related fire safety issues.

Building owners must ensure that buildings are safe. All qualifying leaseholders are protected from historical safety remediation costs for cladding-related work. This protection includes all works, and non-qualifying leaseholders, if their building owner or landlord is or is associated with the developer responsible for that defect. If a leaseholder owns a total of more than three properties, their principal home always qualifies for the protections if it is in a relevant building. Where this is not the case, non-qualifying leaseholders are liable for historical safety remediation costs as per the terms of their lease, in the same way they were before the Act came into force. This amount cannot be increased to replace money that qualifying leaseholders are protected from paying.

The Act provides a toolkit of measures to allow landlords and others to pursue those responsible. The Government has made it very clear that any necessary remediation work should not be delayed. The Act provides for interested parties - including local authorities and leaseholders - to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for a remediation order where historical safety remediation work does not commence in a timely manner. These orders are enforceable as if they were orders of the county court, ensuring that landlords comply with their new liabilities under the Act.