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Associations commit to compensation if cladding removal causes increased heating bills
Housing associations have said they will compensate tenants if fuel bills rise as a result of work to remove Grenfell-style cladding from high rises.
Social landlords have faced calls to recompense residents affected by the removal of cladding, with work on 87 of the 159 social housing buildings requiring removal work underway as lower temperatures bite.
Metropolitan Thames Valley, L&Q and Catalyst all told Inside Housing they would pay out compensation if bills rise – although they do not have specific policies in place to do so automatically.
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Last year Camden Council calculated that residents on the Chalcots Estate could expect a roughly £35 per month increase in fuel bills due to cladding removal and committed to paying it. A spokesperson for the north London borough said the arrangement will continue this year.
A spokesperson for Metropolitan Thames Valley, which is re-cladding one block, said: “We will
work closely with residents to ensure that they are fairly compensated for any differences in their heating costs while work is being carried out.”
Rod Cahill, chief executive of Catalyst, said it “does not expect” the work to affect fuel bills but added: “If this turns out not to be the case and a resident does have an unexpectedly high heating bill during any works, then we will of course make sure they are compensated.”
A spokesperson for L&Q said it did not have a specific policy, but would act on individual cases “should this become necessary”.
The associations had been grilled about their plans at a London Assembly housing committee hearing last month.
Ruth London from campaigning group Fuel Poverty Action said the promise to repay if bills rise did not go far enough: “Many residents can’t take the risk of running up a huge heating bill on the basis of a vague promise that it will be covered. Nor can you put a promise in a prepayment meter.
“Local authorities and housing associations must be proactive in offering help and asking residents if they are in danger of cold.”
Listen to a podcast on leaseholders stuck in blocks with dangerous cladding:
In October an open letter sent to government by Fuel Poverty Action and signed by MPs, housing groups and charities called upon the government to provide funding and guidance to ensure tenants can keep warm while their cladding is being replaced.
The letter said: “Residents in many blocks already going through re-cladding know that when cladding is off in the winter, uninsulated flats are places of constant cold, condensation, damp and mould, and astronomical bills. The government must ensure that this duty is fulfilled and for social housing must provide the necessary funds.”
In a response housing secretary James Brokenshire said it was down to landlords to protect residents during the re-cladding process.
Emma Dent Coad, MP for Kensington and Chelsea and signatory of the letter, said: “Residents are not responsible for putting dangerous cladding on their homes, and they should not face extra costs now because the cladding needs to be removed. Combustible cladding must be removed to save lives, but cold also kills.”
