You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Theresa May’s former advisor on housing has said the party was made to look “incompetent and cruel” by delaying the release of funds in response to Grenfell.
Toby Lloyd, former housing advisor in Ms May’s policy unit, spoke to Inside Housing this week in his first interview since leaving his role.
He spoke of his frustration at the time taken to commit government money to pay for the removal of Grenfell-style cladding on tower blocks in the social and private sectors.
The government announced £400m for the social sector in May 2018, with a further £200m committed for privately owned buildings in May this year.
He said: “The government was always going to end up paying for that, one way or another. But by delaying and delaying and then being seen to be forced into it, [the government] still spent the money but managed to look mean and cruel at the same time.
“The old stereotype of Conservative governments was that they were competent but cruel, whereas Labour governments were kind but incompetent. To position yourself repeatedly in a place where you look both incompetent and cruel is unwise, but we seemed to manage that quite regularly.”
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Lloyd also revealed Ms May’s “regret” over her failure to see through the Social Housing Green Paper before leaving office.
“The big one that didn’t get finished and was a real regret to her and to me was the Social Housing Green Paper: improving regulation for the housing sector, consumer rights, that whole package of stuff,” he said. “It was a source of real regret that we weren’t able to get that to the next stage of the reform process before she left.”
The green paper, first announced in September 2017, was supposed to be a “wide-ranging, top to bottom review” of the issues facing the social housing sector and “the most substantial report of its kind for a generation”.
However, it was not published until summer 2018 and a response to the consultation it launched has not yet been published.
Mr Lloyd said the Treasury had taken a particular interest in housing policy during Ms May’s tenure – seeking to limit policies it viewed as expensive.
“Philip Hammond took an awfully strong personal interest in housing and planning issues,” Mr Lloyd says. “I was often quite surprised how personally involved he was on issues of housing policy.”
“The Treasury’s sacred duty is to look after the nation’s finances and they frequently interpret that as stopping reckless politicians spend vast amounts of money on things they think will be politically popular but might not work,” he says.
“That is fair enough, that’s their job, but if you are one of the people trying to get money spent on things it can be quite frustrating.”
He added that the Treasury was opposed to plans to lift the borrowing cap for new council housing, but was unable to prevent it as it was announced at party conference and implemented swiftly afterwards.
“The reason they [the Treasury] are so opposed to that even at a time when they were agreeing to spend money on social housing is because of the balance sheet issue,” he explains. “They will tell you repeatedly that every social home built by a council costs twice as much as a social home built by a housing association [due to the debt appearing on the public balance sheet].
“For a lot of people in the real world that doesn’t make an awful lot of sense, but it matters hugely to the Treasury.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation said: "It should go without saying that everyone must be safe in their own home.
"But dangerous cladding has been used on tower blocks of all tenures across the country because government fire safety regulations were not fit for purpose. The government must now take financial responsibility for ensuring that each and every home affected, no matter who owns it, is made safe and fast.”
Suzanne Richards, executive member for housing and regeneration at Manchester City Council, said: “I have heard first-hand the stories from residents about how living in a block that is not deemed fire safe can impact on their emotional health and well-being.
“On top of this they have the additional worry of the threat of bills, of up to £80,000 in some cases, landing on their doormat.
“This is unacceptable and government must now step in and fund post-Grenfell remediation works.”
Paula Higgins, chief executive of the HomeOwners Alliance, said: “Cladding has not been removed because freeholders and warranty providers do not want to take responsibility. These homeowners are stuck in a void with no end in sight.
“Government needs to bang heads together and find a solution quickly because these people have been sold a duff product. If no one will take responsibility then government must step in and take action to protect people urgently.”
Andy Dark, assistant general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “It’s a scandal that residents who are living in tower blocks covered in flammable cladding and where basic fire safety is substandard have no certainty whatsoever that their homes will be made safe.
“Whether publicly or privately owned, the remedial work needs to be completed quickly and the government must take responsibility for getting the job done.”
Martin Boyd, chair of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said: “It has taken far too long for government to take action to remove dangerous cladding from thousands of people’s homes.
“This has always been either the fault of regulations or the failing of the developer but nobody seems willing or able to challenge either group.”
Jim Fitzpatrick, Labour MP for Poplar and Limehouse and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Leasehold and Commonhold Reform, said: “No one should be left in the position of having worked and saved for years to become a property owner, to then learn – through no fault of their own – their home is no longer safe.
“This campaign rightly highlights the consequences of inaction and I urge the government to take responsibility as a matter of urgency.”
John Biggs, mayor of Tower Hamlets said: “I fully support the campaign from Inside Housing calling on the government to fully fund all works needed to remove dangerous cladding from all housing blocks.
“Ministers have rightly said their top priority must be to ensure that people are safe in their own homes, and it is entirely unfair to expect residents to find tens of thousands of pounds to fund this without any help whatsoever.”
Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, said: “It is outrageous that two years after the Grenfell disaster there are still 40,000 leaseholders across the UK who are stuck living in unsafe blocks with dangerous cladding.
“The government must move fast to replace flammable cladding on every building, no matter who owns it, and must do it now.”