Gove promises new standards for the assessment of internal fire safety defects

Mr Gove made the commitment for new internal standards in a meeting with leaseholders impacted by building safety issues, summarised here. A spokesperson for DLUHC did not dispute the contents of the summary when approached by Inside Housing. 

The leaseholders, who are part of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign initially formed with the support of Inside Housing, said: “This is long overdue as the government has known for years that safety defects extend far beyond just cladding. 

“Buildings cannot be made half-safe, external and internal issues have the same root cause of a collective state and industry failure to ensure buildings were developed safely, so the government must do all it can to ensure there is a holistic approach to buildings of all heights and defects.”

The summary of the meeting said that Mr Gove also accepted the need for remediation timeframes and committed to follow up with the chief executives of developers who are not fulfilling their promises to remediate ‘life-safety issues’ at blocks they built. 

It added that Mr Gove also agreed to facilitate a meeting with Treasury officials to discuss a levy on construction product manufacturers – a party that has yet to contribute to building safety remediation despite stern warnings from the housing secretary.

He is also said to be considering a “big bang” approach to building insurance, which continues to be a major financial issue for leaseholders stuck in homes with building safety issues. 

Plans to make leaseholders customers under Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) rules to regulate industry practices such as soaring commissions to brokers were published in April, but the government is yet to take forward more radical ideas such as a state-backed scheme. 

The leasehold campaigners said in a statement: “A package of measures, from industry, the FCA and the government is desperately needed and must be in place as soon as possible. The government will have to legislate to effect this and ensure there is an effective way to enforce any new rights leaseholders may be set to receive.”

The summary of the meeting says the group also discussed the issue of ‘non-qualifying’ leaseholders – who are ruled out of statutory protection – and the actions of social landlords, with a call to make the sector do more to support customers through ‘buyback’ schemes. 

The campaigners said: “This sounded positive but is still far too vague and selective. Tinkering around the edges is nowhere near enough as all leaseholders are innocent and should receive the same protections.”