Buildings: Insulation

(asked on 9th July 2019) - View Source

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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department will be providing financial support to leaseholders replacing flammable cladding on buildings of less than 18 metres in height.


Answered by
Kit Malthouse Portrait
Kit Malthouse
This question was answered on 15th July 2019

The Government has committed to fully fund the replacement of unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding on private sector high-rise (over 18 metres) residential buildings, except where a warranty claim has been accepted. Non-ACM cladding system costs or other structural works not directly related to the remediation of ACM cladding systems will not be part of the fund.

Government intervention to provide funding for the removal of unsafe ACM cladding on private sector high-rise residential buildings is wholly exceptional. It is based on the unparalleled fire risk ACM poses. Buildings over 18 meters tall are classified as high-rise and are subject to tougher building regulation restrictions as firefighting is more complex. This is why the Government has focused on these buildings.

Government intervention does not remove responsibility for overall building safety from the building owner and if fire safety risks are uncovered, they must remedy them, or potentially face enforcement action from the local authority. We have made it clear that building owners should protect leaseholders from bearing the costs of remediation, and that the clearest way to ensure safety is to remove unsafe materials.

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