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Take over buildings where cladding removal work has not begun by end of year, MPs urge government
The removal of dangerous cladding from all buildings must be completed within two years and building owners who have not begun the process by the end of this year should have the property taken from their possession, MPs have said.
A new report by the Housing, Communities and Local Government (HCLG) Committee calls on the government to commit to a December 2021 deadline for the remediation of all buildings of any height with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, which was the same type used on the Grenfell Tower.
A second deadline of June 2022 should be set for the remediation of buildings with other forms of dangerous cladding.
The report also calls on the government to consider taking over any residential building where work has not begun by December 2020 by using compulsory purchase order powers.
According to the report, there are still 2,000 high-risk residential buildings with some form of dangerous cladding.
It comes two days before the third anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people.
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In the March Budget, the government announced a £1bn Building Safety Fund to finance the removal of combustible non-ACM cladding from buildings above 18m.
However, the HCLG committee said this funding will likely only cover the costs of removal from a third of the 1,700 buildings that need remediation.
The committee said the government must accept that the £1bn pledged so far is not enough to fund the work required to make all buildings safe and that it should be prepared to provide additional support.
The report also recognises the impact the cladding crisis has had on the mental health of residents and urges the government to ensure affected leaseholders are offered support by the NHS to help them cope.
It comes after Inside Housing published an exclusive survey, carried out by the UK Cladding Action Group, which revealed that one in five residents trapped in the cladding scandal have had suicidal feelings or a desire to self-harm.
The report also addresses the exorbitant costs leaseholders are facing by paying for temporary fire safety measures such as a waking watch and new fire alarms. It says the government should provide funding support for ongoing waking watch fire patrols and fire alarms for all leaseholders.
Clive Betts, chair of the HCLG committee, said: “We have challenged the government to finally commit to removing all forms of dangerous cladding once and for all.
“Three years on from the Grenfell Tower disaster, there are still thousands of homeowners living in buildings with some form of dangerous cladding.
“The financial and emotional toll has been significant, with temporary safety measures costing huge sums and the ongoing stress of living in a property that may not be safe. This is not good enough.
“It is clear that the £1bn Building Safety Fund will not be enough. Too many risk being excluded by the criteria for accessing this support and the amount of money pledged is only enough to cover a fraction of the work needed.
“The fund should be increased so that it is enough to cover the amount of work that is actually needed, both to remove cladding and resolve wider fire safety concerns.
“Further support must also be provided for the costs of stop-gap safety measures, such as waking watches, to reduce the burden on homeowners.
“This should not just be a question of the government, and therefore the taxpayer, stepping in with a blank cheque.
“Those who have caused, and in some cases refuse to rectify, safety issues must be made to pay.
“We call on the government to consider taking legal action to recover the cost of works on individual buildings.
“Compulsory purchase order powers should be used to take direct ownership of buildings where owners have failed to begin remedial work by December 2020.
“It is time for the government to commit to end the scourge of dangerous cladding once and for all.”
