Just 10% of Building Safety Fund gone to social housing, MPs told

She called the process in which social tenants’ rents are used to pay for remediation instead, “immoral and unfair”, and asked for “fair and equal access to building safety funding”.

“There is almost no public funding available for works to flats where social tenants live,” Ms Henderson added, and called on the government to reverse its decision to exclude housing associations.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £1bn in new building safety funding to speed up the removal of dangerous cladding in 2025-26 during October’s Budget.

But while the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said that eligibility for existing building safety schemes is unchanged, it has not ruled out changing the criteria in future.

Also at the HCLG Committee session, Fiona Fletcher-Smith, chief executive of L&Q and chair of the G15, spoke about housing associations’ development plans and finances. She told MPs that skills shortages and court backlogs have affected some remediation cases.

She cited an example where a tower block in south London had to be emptied of residents due to building safety defects in 2019, with negotiations with the original developer costing £1m in legal fees. A court date for arbitration has not been set until 2026.

The result is a building in an area of exceptional housing need sitting empty, “because I’m required to go through the waterfall method of going after the original builder”, Ms Fletcher-Smith said.

Ms Henderson also argued that Section 106 agreements should be reformed to make sure high-quality homes are delivered that do not include technology that is being phased out, such as gas boilers.

She called for planning fees to be ringfenced for Section 106, clearer recommendations around viability guidance, and training for councillors on what Section 106 does and does not include.

Ms Henderson also suggested that the upcoming long-term housing strategy should be outcome-focused, including setting a goal to end the use of temporary accommodation for children.

The government will publish a 10-year housing strategy in late March at the Spring Spending Review, alongside details of the next multi-year Affordable Homes Programme.