Unamended Fire Safety Bill set to become law

News29.04.2110.30 AM by Lucie Heath

The Fire Safety Bill is set to become law without any amendments to protect leaseholders from the cost of building safety work after the government voted down the changes for the fifth time.

Housing minister Christopher Pincher described the amendment as “unworkable and inappropriate” (picture: Parliament)

Sharelines

The House of Lords has passed the unamended version of the Fire Safety Bill after various failed attempts to introduce a clause that protects leaseholders from building safety costs #UKhousing #EndOurCladdingScandal

Last night the House of Lords finally passed the unamended version of the Fire Safety Bill after a series of failed attempts to introduce changes that would prevent building owners from passing the cost of building safety works on to leaseholders.

It came after the House of Commons voted on Wednesday not to accept the amendment for the fifth time. It was the second vote this week, the other took place on Tuesday, with the housing minister Christopher Pincher describing the amendment as “unworkable and inappropriate”.

Following yesterday’s vote, the bill went to the House of Lords which then passed it without amendments after repeatedly failing to secure enough support in the commons for the amendment.

Bishop of St Albans Dr Alan Smith, who brought forward the amendment, wrote on Twitter: “Despite the best efforts of the Lords, the government have passed the Fire Safety Bill unamended. The debates have made clear that the consequences will catch up with the government. Leaseholders – you have friends in both houses who will continue to be your advocates.”

Conservative backbencher Stephen McPartland, who originally tabled the amendment in the House of Commons before it was introduced in the House of Lords, said: “Sadly the #FireSafetyBill has passed @UKHouseofLords without protections for leaseholders. Do not despair, we will not give up, we will continue to fight for fairness for leaseholders. We will regroup.”

A total of 31 Conservative MPs rebelled against the government to back the Lords’ amendment, including former party leader Ian Duncan Smith and former housing minister Esther McVey.

The Scottish National Party abstained from the bill, which only covers England, however all six Scottish Conservative MPs voted with the government.

Without the amendment, the bill leaves thousands of leaseholders facing huge costs to pay for safety work on the buildings.

The government has allocated £5.1bn in funding to pay for work on buildings taller than 18m and plans to introduce a loan scheme for people in smaller buildings.

However, Inside Housing has reported that the loan scheme needs legislation before it is introduced and may not be in place for years as a result.

This morning a report was published by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee calls on the government to scrap the loan scheme and instead introduce a “comprehensive building safety fund, paid for by the government and the industry”.