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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on zero-rating VAT on fire safety works for anyone retrospectively required to undertake fire safety works on buildings that met regulations when completed.

Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders will be protected from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes as part of the Government’s five-point plan to provide reassurance to homeowners and build confidence in the housing market.

An additional £3.5 billion in funding to remediate unsafe cladding will be provided, bringing the total Government investment in building safety to an unprecedented £5.1 billion. Funding will be targeted at high-rise residential buildings in line with longstanding independent expert advice and evidence on risk.

Lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal through a long-term, low interest, Government backed financing scheme. No leaseholder in this scheme will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding. To ensure the largest property developers pay their fair share, we are also introducing a developer levy and a new tax. Together we anticipate that will raise at least £2 billion over a decade.

I can confirm there have been no discussions to date on the particular issue raised. Problems with cladding and other fire safety defects are typically as a result of a failure to comply with building regulations. Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure their buildings are safe. They should consider all routes to meet costs, protecting leaseholders where they can – for example through warranties and recovering costs from contractors for incorrect or poor work.