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One in three HA leaseholders facing building safety bills could pay more than £50,000, new research reveals
More than a third of housing association leaseholders who have received estimates for building safety work on their blocks face having to pay over £50,000 for remediation, new research has revealed.
The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign asked 352 housing association leaseholders caught up in the building safety crisis about their experience with their landlord.
Of the 352 respondents, 106 had been told about the costs they would have to pay, with 51% facing a bill over £20,000 and 35% facing a bill over £35,000.
Meanwhile, eight in 10 respondents were worried about forthcoming costs and/or had researched applying for bankruptcy, while one in 10 were already facing financial hardship or bankruptcy.
The survey was conducted in November last year, before housing secretary Michael Gove announced a new plan that aims to prevent leaseholders from having to pay for the majority of building safety work.
The proposals, which are being included as amendments to the Building Safety Bill, will see developers and freeholders responsible for remediation costs ahead of leaseholders.
If the developer cannot be found and the freeholder cannot afford to pay, leaseholders’ contribution will be capped at £10,000 or £15,000 if they live in London.
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The cap for leaseholders in shared ownership properties will be adjusted based on the percentage of the home they own.
In its report, the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign said it had previously heard of only one housing association charging shared owners based on the share of the home they own, with the majority of landlords choosing to charge 100% of costs.
According to the survey, only one in 10 housing association leaseholders have been offered the opportunity to spread their building safety bill over a long-term period.
The vast majority (90%) of respondents rated their housing association’s communications in relation to building safety negatively, with 52% picking the worst possible rating ‘very poor’.
More than 90% said the building safety crisis had impacted their mental health, with over half stating that it had done so ‘significantly’.
A fifth of respondents said they had been prescribed medication or had to take time off work due to the stress and anxiety brought on by the crisis.
In its report, the End Our Cladding Scandal said it conducted the survey “in light of significant and recurring concerns leaseholders were raising about housing associations”.
It said the objective of the report was to “shine a light on [housing association leaseholders’] experience and highlight systemic issues that need to be urgently addressed”.
In response to the findings, G15 chair Geeta Nanda said the group’s members plan to spend £3.6bn on building safety over the next 15 years and have "set up dedicated teams to support our residents who are affected, as well as to assess buildings, progress remediation works, and seek to recover costs from those responsible".
"This has been and remains a fast-moving and complex issue, but we apologise for any occasions where our communications with residents and support for them hasn’t been right. We will be looking at the recommendations the report makes closely," she added.
Kate Henderson, chief executive at the National Housing Federation, said: “We completely empathise with leaseholders experiencing anguish and life-changing stress that the building safety crisis has caused. Housing associations top priority is residents’ safety and we’re doing everything we can to make buildings safe as quickly as possible. We’ve been navigating this challenge and trying to do the right thing, but where our actions have added to leaseholders’ stresses, we apologise."
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