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

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to (a) prevent homeowners who purchased their homes through a Government shared ownership scheme from facing liability for all fire safety remediation costs and (b) extend funding to homeowners facing cladding remediation costs whose buildings do not meet the height threshold for existing support schemes.

(A) The Government has announced a globally unprecedented investment in building safety, under which, hundreds of thousands of residents, including shared owners, will be protected from the cost of remediating unsafe cladding on their homes. We are providing over £5 billion in grant funding for the removal of unsafe cladding on residential buildings over 18 metres, as well as establishing a generous finance scheme which will provide leaseholders in residential buildings of 11-18 metres with access to finance for cladding remediation costs. Under this scheme leaseholders in residential buildings between 11-18 metres will pay no more than £50 per month towards the cost of cladding remediation.

We have also introduced a new model for Shared Ownership which will include a 10 year period during which the landlord will support with the cost of repairs in new build homes. The changes will prevent new shared owners from being hit with unexpected repairs and maintenance bills and will help to bridge the gap between renting and homeownership.

(B) Longstanding safety advice is clear that height is a central factor in assessing risk. Buildings below 18 metres will not carry the same risk as a building above 18  metres.  It is right that we prioritise action on higher rise buildings where risk to multiple households is greater when fire spreads, which is why we have taken a risk based, proportionate approach.

Government funding does not absolve building owners of their responsibility to ensure that 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.  We have seen many responsible developers and building owners stepping up to take responsibility for correcting these defects - for example, in more than half of the high-rise private sector buildings with ACM.