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Financing schemes may be the ‘only answer’ for resolving some building safety issues, says minister
Financing schemes may be the “only answer” to solve the cladding crisis, the minister in charge of building safety told leaseholders last night.
Speaking at a Cladding Question Time event organised by the Manchester and Liverpool Cladiators, Lord Greenhalgh defended the government’s policy of offering long-term loans to leaseholders in buildings with dangerous cladding shorter than 18m.
The minister said the government had “three levers” to deal with an issue as big as the building safety crisis: grant funding, levies and taxes, and a financing scheme.
He said: “You know some of these issues a financing scheme may well be the right answer to do that because it may be the only answer.
“Not having the bill upfront with 28 days to pay but paying that over many, many years at a low level is better than not having any other solution, so I think I’d make the case that financing schemes can be a way to solve the overall problem.”
Leaseholders have strongly criticised the government’s proposal to offer loans to leaseholders, arguing that it is unfair for residents to be forced into debt as a result of the height of their building.
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Speaking at the same event, mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham criticised the government’s Building Safety Fund, which provides grant funding to buildings taller than 18m, as he said it is “complex” and “too rules-based”.
He said: “I just think the government needs to take a bit of a step back here and get back to a principles-based approach, rather than a rules-based approach.
“A rules-based approach with all the complexity is just going to cause more wasted efforts, people argue and all the rest of it.”
Lord Greenhalgh told attendees that the government’s Building Safety Fund has now received 2,820 registrations and that more than 900 applications are stalled because information that has been supplied as part of the application is inadequate.
Architect and TV presenter George Clarke said it was “ridiculous” that leaseholders have been left waiting because managing agents have not submitted the correct information about their building to the government.
The event heard from Hayley Tillotson, a leaseholder who was forced to declare herself bankrupt in December last year as a result of bills for interim safety measures and remediation for her building in Leeds that was found to have dangerous cladding.
She asked the panel: “Exactly how bad is the government going to let this get before they step up and give us some meaningful action?”
Lord Greenhalgh said there was “nothing I’m going to say that’s going to answer it in any way shape or form”, but added that the money the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has gotten from the Treasury for building safety over the past year is “progress”.
Ms Tillotson said she would “rather have legal protection than a few billion quid”.
On the night before the event, MPs voted down an amendment to the Fire Safety Bill which would have banned leaseholders from being forced to pay for cladding remediation works.
Mr Clarke said it was “unbelievable” and “heartbreaking” that MPs voted down the amendment.
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