Earlier this month, I asked the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government a series of question on subjects relating to cladding on behalf of people living in Southampton. Many leaseholders of high rise flats have yet to receive adequate support for fire safety improvements and I have been leading a campaign to put this right.
You can access all the questions and answers on Parliament’s website here or read them below:
Question:
1. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to assist leaseholders whose homes are in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding but below 18 metres in height. (109488)
Answer:
It remains building owners’ responsibility to address unsafe cladding on buildings of all heights. We have provided advice from the Independent Expert Advisory Panel on the measures building owners should take to ensure their buildings are safe, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-advice-for-building-owners-including-fire-doors .
Question:
2. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessments his Department undertook before setting the threshold for the Building Safety Fund as a residential building with unsafe cladding at 18 metres and over in height. (109489)
Answer:
In developing the Building Safety Fund, the Government considered the view of experts, including Dame Judith Hackitt, who support setting the Fund’s height eligibility criterion at buildings 18 metres and above. This reflects the exceptional fire risk that certain cladding products pose at that height. There will be a small degree of flexibility to allow the fund to cover buildings that have been built just under the 18 metres threshold.
Question:
3. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to assist leaseholders whose homes are in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding while their Building Safety Fund applications are under consideration. (110299)
Answer:
The Government is aware of the impact on leaseholders and residents living in high rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding and has introduced the £1 billion Building Safety Fund to help make homes safer, more quickly and for the long term. The Building Safety Fund is to cover costs of the remediation of unsafe non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding but not for any service charge fees that might be incurred in the interim. In addition, Government Advisor Michael Wade is accelerating work to identify financing options for future remediation work that will protect leaseholders from unaffordable costs, while ensuring these do not fall to the taxpayer. However, it must be recognised that it is the responsibility of building owners – not Government or the tax payer – to ensure their buildings are safe for leaseholders and other residents.
Question:
4. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the average per household costs borne by leaseholders addressing fire safety in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding that (a) qualify and (b) do not qualify for the Building Safety Fund. (110300)
Answer:
The purpose of the Building Safety Fund is to increase the pace of remediation of unsafe non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding in residential buildings 18 metres and above. Any costs for leaseholders will depend on the extent of other remediation work to be carried out which is beyond the scope of the Fund. For remediation costs in general, the draft Building Safety Bill includes an impact assessment which is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications/draft-building-safety-bill . Further analytical work will be undertaken to update the impact assessment, including the cost estimates for leaseholders, which will be published when the Bill is formally introduced to Parliament.
Question:
5. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on merits of the requirement of EWS1 External Wall Fire Surveys on private residential property values in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding. (111574)
Answer:
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) designed the EWS1 process in conjunction with mortgage lenders. Its aim is to assist with valuations of high-rise residential buildings where remediation to ensure building safety might be required. The EWS1 process is not Government policy or a regulatory requirement. The Government is aware that the EWS1 process is being used on lower rise buildings, does not support such blanket use, and is encouraging industry to adopt a more proportionate approach.
Question:
6. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications his Department has received for the Building Safety Fund. (111575)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
7. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applications for buildings in Southampton Itchen constituency his Department has received for the Building Safety Fund. (111576)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
8. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Building Safety Fund applications his Department has received from Southampton Itchen constituency to date. (112086)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
9. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Building Safety Fund applications his Department has refused to date; and what the grounds were for those refusals. (112087)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
10. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Building Safety Fund applications from Southampton Itchen constituency his Department has refused to date; and what the grounds were of those refusals. (112088)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
11. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made on merits of the requirement of EWS1 External Wall Fire Surveys on private residential property values in high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding. (111574)
Answer:
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) designed the EWS1 process in conjunction with mortgage lenders. Its aim is to assist with valuations of high-rise residential buildings where remediation to ensure building safety might be required. The EWS1 process is not Government policy or a regulatory requirement. The Government is aware that the EWS1 process is being used on lower rise buildings, does not support such blanket use, and is encouraging industry to adopt a more proportionate approach.
Question:
12. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of identified high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings with unsafe cladding had their Building Safety Fund application pending approval on the last day of each month since August 2020. (113153)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
13. What is the average processing time for Building Safety Fund applications. (113598)
Answer:
The Building Safety Prospectus, published in May, clearly sets out the timelines for the Building Safety Fund process and details the criteria that needs to be met in order to receive funding. MHCLG has since publicly committed to keeping these timeframes under review.
We are currently reviewing registrations and supplementary information that has been requested from building owners. We will be in contact with building owners as soon as we have completed the verification process. At this point, eligible registrants will be asked to apply for funding. We are working to do this as quickly as possible.
Question:
14. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much the average grant allocation is under the Building Safety Fund. (113599)
Answer:
We are committed to publishing information in the Building Safety Fund’s data release and will be publishing grant approvals at a later date.
Question:
15. To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of a waking watch in tackling fire safety in high-rise residential buildings. (113600)
Answer:
Under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, it is for the Responsible Person to ensure appropriate fire safety measures are in place within their building. This can include, where relevant, ensuring that there is a waking watch in place, that this is tested and works. Local Fire and Rescue Services and other enforcers of the Fire Safety Order can take action where appropriate if the responsible person fails to comply with their duties under the order.
The revised guidance simultaneous evacuation guidance produced by the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) reflects best practice and can be located at https://www.nationalfirechiefs.org.uk/Simultaneous-evacuation-guidance.
The guidance encourages greater use of more cost-effective measures such as alarm systems to replace or reduce dependency on waking watch wherever possible. This is further supported by the publication of the costs of waking watches on 16 October, which can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-waking-watch-costs
Question:
16. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of identified high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings with unsafe cladding are in the process of being fully remediated. (113151)
Answer:
The Department publishes data on progress with remediation of high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings in England with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations. The latest data is available here(opens in a new tab) . Information on registrations to the Building Safety Fund, which is funding the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems on high rise residential buildings, is available here(opens in a new tab) .
Question:
17. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what percentage of identified high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings with unsafe cladding have already been fully remediated.(113152)
Answer:
The Department publishes data on progress with remediation of high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings in England with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations. The latest data is available here(opens in a new tab) . Information on registrations to the Building Safety Fund, which is funding the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems on high rise residential buildings, is available here(opens in a new tab) .
Question:
18. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of identified high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings with unsafe cladding had their Building Safety Fund application pending approval on the last day of each month since August 2020. (113153)
Answer:
The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics
Question:
19. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many residential high-rise buildings that applied to the Building Safety Fund do not meet fire safety standards as a result of building design quality on the part of the building developer. (114958)
Answer:
The Building Safety Fund is aimed at making sure those living in buildings covered by the fund are safe by remediating unsafe non-Aluminium Composite Material cladding systems that do not meet fire safety standards. The Department is continuing to work with building owners to progress applications for the Building Safety Fund and published registration statistics on 30 September, which can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/remediation-of-non-acm-buildings#building-safety-fund-registration-statistics.
Question:
20. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made regarding the potential liability of developers that have sold flats in high-rise private residential buildings that do not meet fire safety standards. (114959)
Answer:
Matters of liability are specific to individual buildings, and the Department is not in a position to make individual assessments of the facts and circumstances surrounding each individual building.
Question:
21. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking in relation to developers that have sold flats in high-rise private residential buildings that do not meet fire safety standards. (114960)
Answer:
The Department has ongoing engagement with developers and building owners of private sector high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding. This has led to the remediation of over half of high-rise residential buildings with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding being funded by the developer, freeholder or through warranty claims, without passing the costs onto leaseholders. Furthermore, the Private Sector ACM Remediation Fund and the Building Safety Fund for the remediation of buildings with unsafe non-ACM cladding both require applicants to demonstrate that they have taken all reasonable steps to recover the costs of replacing the unsafe cladding from those responsible through insurance claims, warranties or legal action.
Question:
22. To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what guidance his Department has issued to leaseholders who plan to take action against the developer of their private high-rise residential buildings, whose homes were already not fire safe when the developer sold them their homes. (114961)
Tabled on: 12 November 2020
Answer:
Matters of liability and any related action are specific to individual buildings, and the Department cannot comment or provide any specific guidance on these. However, the Government provided additional funding to the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) to provide independent, free, initial advice to leaseholders on building safety issues to ensure they are aware of their rights and are supported to understand the terms of their leases.
Thankyou for tackling this huge problem. My son’s flat is currently worthless thanks to unsafe cladding. His situation is help-to-buy, part rent, part leasehold ownership and is absolutely reliant on financial help from external sources to resolve this safety issue. He , his wife and son do not feel safe, even with the waking watch. The expenses are causing great anxiety. They rented and bought their flat in good faith, without any warning that cladding was a problem. How can we do this to our young families? We need to help them. I hope it’s not going to be years of blameshifting and passing the buck. Thankyou for your concern and action: please don’t let up on this.