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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department has (a) identified and (b) taken action in cases of freeholders preventing cladding remediation; and if he will make a statement.

Building owners have a legal responsibility to make sure their buildings are safe. While many freeholders are acting responsibly, a minority are failing to progress remediation.

The department is aware of freeholders who are stalling on remediation work through intelligence gathered from engagement with regulatory bodies, and updates from our delivery partners who monitor buildings' progress through the government's remediation funds (e.g., building safety fund and cladding safety scheme). This intelligence is also used by the department to identify, monitor and contact owners of high-rise buildings that have not registered for remediation schemes but may have unsafe cladding systems. Where Freeholders fail to engage, the department works with local regulators to compel them to take action.

Regulators (local authorities and fire and rescue services) have statutory duties and a range of powers to compel responsible entities to enter the funds and undertake the necessary remediation works. These powers range from soft levers to enforcement powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Order 2005. The department also holds account management meetings reviewing the largest and/or most problematic freeholders to track progress and resolve blockers.

In addition to the above Local Regulator powers, the Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new enforcement powers, remediation orders (ROs) and remediation contribution orders (RCOs), that allow regulators, the Secretary of State and leaseholders to apply to the First-tier Tribunal for an order requiring a building owner to fix, and pay to fix, their unsafe building within a specified time.