Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure the costs of making buildings safe are not passed on to tenants.

Landlords are expected to keep their properties free of potential hazards and safe for tenants. Where they fail to do so, local authorities have strong powers under the Housing Act 2004 to require necessary improvements to be made. In the rental market, the extent to which the cost of keeping a property safe is reflected in the rent is a commercial decision to be taken by individual landlords, along with other relevant facts such as the size and location of the property and the level of demand in the area.

Where the tenants are leaseholders they can seek free initial advice, funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, from the Leaseholder Advisory Service (LEASE). In addition, Section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 consultation process ensures that leaseholders contributing towards the upkeep and maintenance of the building where they live have input into how their money is spent.

The government would like to see building owners doing all they can to protect leaseholders from the costs of interim measures and cladding remediation – either by funding it themselves or looking at alternative routes such as insurance claims, warranties or legal action.

The department is keeping the situation under review.