You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Building Safety Bill makes situation worse for leaseholders facing cladding costs, Labour-commissioned legal advice says
The new Building Safety Bill could leave leaseholders more likely to have to cover the cost of fixing cladding issues with their blocks, Labour has claimed.
The new Building Safety Bill could leave leaseholders more likely to have to cover the cost of fixing cladding issues with their blocks, Labour has claimed #UKhousingAccording to legal advice commissioned by the party, the Building Safety Bill in its current form would worsen rather than improve the situation for leaseholders, making it “more certain” that they will bear the cost of the building safety crisis.
Lawyers hired by Labour warned that the recently tabled legislation increases the likelihood that remediation costs will fall under service charges.
Labour branded the bill a “betrayal” of leaseholders.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said the bill introduces a legal requirement for high-rise building owners to prove they have considered all routes to meet remediation costs.
The government has come in for heavy criticism over its handling of the issue of leaseholders facing costs for cladding problems that have emerged since the Grenfell Tower fire.
It faced a rebellion of 33 Conservative MPs over its decision to reject an amendment to protect leaseholders from costs through the Fire Safety Bill.
At the time, ministers argued that the much larger Building Safety Bill was the appropriate legislation to tackle the issue.
But building safety minister Lord Stephen Greenhalgh said earlier this month that “it’s not really the Building Safety Bill that can resolve” the problem of leaseholders facing costs for historic safety defects.
Read more
The new Building Safety Charge for residents in tower blocks over 18 metres in height will heap more costs on to leaseholders in high rises, the legal advice added.
Labour has also accused the government’s promises that the Building Safety Charge will give “residents more power to hold builders and developers to account” of being hollow, because the litigation or negotiation options are “uncertain, expensive and risky”.
The party estimates that up to a million people are caught up in the wider building safety crisis, as mortgage lenders, insurers, risk assessors and others refuse to sign off many tall buildings as safe.
Labour has promised to work cross-party to amend the Building Safety Bill to enshrine legal protections for leaseholders in law.
Shadow housing secretary Lucy Powell said: “Leaseholders have been betrayed by this government.
“Hundreds of thousands of lives are on hold. People are unable to have children, to retire, to get a full night’s sleep.
“They were promised time and again that the Building Safety Bill would be their way out, but the government has made their situation worse, not better.
“Labour’s priority is getting homeowners out of this fix, and we will work with any MP who wants to do this.
“The government should consider themselves on notice. If they continue to abandon innocent homeowners, they will face a battle royale to give leaseholders the cast-iron legal protections that have been promised.”
A spokesperson for MHCLG said: “We are introducing a legal requirement for owners of high-rise buildings to prove they have considered all routes to meet the cost of fixing their building and it is their responsibility to make their buildings safe, instead of passing costs directly onto leaseholders.
“The Building Safety Bill marks the biggest improvements to building safety in 40 years – with more rights and protections for residents and a £5 billion investment to remove unsafe cladding.
“The new regime for high-rise buildings will be proportionate and the Building Safety Regulator will focus on managing risk, targeting enforcement action only where needed.”
Sign up for our fire safety newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
Related stories
