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

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) capping total costs relating to the remediation of fire safety defects that can be passed on to leaseholders at a percentage of the value of their equity in the property and (b) providing financial support in cases where the original developer has ceased trading and compensation can no longer be recovered through the Defective Premises Act 1972, for buildings under 18 metres in height that have been assessed as a fire risk.

Wherever possible, building owners and industry should make buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders and we are introducing new measures that will legally require building owners to prove they have tried all routes to cover costs.  The fire risk is lower in buildings under 18 metres and costly remediation work is usually not needed. Where fire risks are identified, they should always be managed proportionately, minimising risk without creating a situation whereby people cannot move or access mortgage finance.  The Secretary of State is looking very closely at this issue to make sure that everything possible is being done to support leaseholders. Further detail on the support offer for leaseholders in residential buildings of 11-18 metres will be released when all options have been fully considered.