Morning Briefing: leaseholders hit with cladding bill
Leaseholders are hit with a hefty bill for removing cladding from their block, a new government committee launches and a report looks into office-to-resi conversions
In the news
Over on The Guardian, there is a story about a tower block in Croydon where residents are being asked to pay £2m to fund the removal of dangerous cladding from the outside.
Leaseholders in the 93 flats face bills of more than £30,000 each, and have been told the removal work won’t begin until they pay up. We will have more on this story later this morning, but in the meantime here is Nathaniel Barker’s excellent piece about the dilemma of who pays for fire safety work.
Elsewhere, the Local Government Association has published research totalling up the amount of office-to-residential housing delivered in the past few years. This type of housing is controversial with councils because it doesn’t pass through the planning system and therefore doesn’t include affordable housing contributions.
And finally, housing secretary Sajid Javid gave a speech at a parliamentary event last night which saw the launch of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on New Towns.
On social media
Reactions to the news from Croydon:
Another great ad for leasehold and new build flats - can’t see why freeholder and whoever specified cladding not also liable though? t.co/Q9yAvtf7PG
— Jules Birch (@jules_birch)Another great ad for leasehold and new build flats - can’t see why freeholder and whoever specified cladding not also liable though? https://t.co/Q9yAvtf7PG
— Jules Birch (@jules_birch) January 17, 2018
"These people have been landed in a situation where their lives are in peril."
— BBC Radio London (@BBCRadioLondon)
📻 Labour MP for Croydon North @SteveReedMP tells @VanessaOnAir the government must assist residents asked to foot bill to replace Grenfell-like cladding.
🖥️👉 t.co/oM47oQSCks pic.twitter.com/GifqH20VD3"These people have been landed in a situation where their lives are in peril."
— BBC Radio London (@BBCRadioLondon) January 18, 2018
\uD83D\uDCFB Labour MP for Croydon North @SteveReedMP tells @VanessaOnAir the government must assist residents asked to foot bill to replace Grenfell-like cladding.
\uD83D\uDDA5️\uD83D\uDC49 https://t.co/oM47oQSCks pic.twitter.com/GifqH20VD3
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