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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of the Polluter Pays principle as a way of protecting leaseholders from fire safety remediation costs.

The principle that those responsible for creating building safety defects should pay to put them right has always been the Government’s position.

That is why we are taking action through the Building Safety Bill to extend legal rights to redress for shoddy workmanship by retrospectively extending the limitation period under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972 from six to 15 years.

These changes will enhance the ability of building owners, homeowners, and leaseholders to seek compensation from those responsible for defective work. Going forward, we are also expanding the Defective Premises Act to include refurbishment works, and we will be commencing section 38 of the Building Act 1984, allowing civil action to be brought regarding breaches of building regulations which have resulted in injury or damage to property. These measures will ensure that those responsible for defective construction work can be held to account for their failures.