Landlords face jail if they pass on cost of fixing cladding crisis
Mail victory in fight for leaseholders
LANDLORDS who charge leaseholders for the costs of the cladding scandal could face ten years behind bars, Michael Gove warned last night.
The Housing Secretary wrote to building owners telling them that asking innocent victims to pay to fix fire safety defects is now ‘a criminal offence’.
It comes as landmark legislation is to be passed today meaning that hundreds of thousands of leaseholders trapped in unsafe homes will, for the first time, be legally protected from ‘unfair’ costs.
The measure is a victory for the Daily Mail, which has been running a campaign to End The Cladding Scandal and safeguard leaseholders from costly repairs.
Until now, they have been liable for bills of up to £150,000 each to fix unsafe cladding and other defects.
But the Building Safety Act means that those responsible for historical safety defects and those who own buildings will instead be made to pay. Mr Gove said it marked ‘a major turning point for building safety in this country’.
He added: ‘ Hundreds of thousands of innocent leaseholders now have the legal protection they rightly deserve, freeing them from a financial burden they should never have faced.’ In his letter Tragedy: 2017 Grenfell fire to freeholders and managing agents, Mr Gove said he was ‘concerned’ agents are still attempting to bill leaseholders for repairs.
He added: ‘From tomorrow, anyone who chooses to breach the statutory protections will be committing a criminal offence. Individuals involved in such criminal activity could face up to ten years in prison, in addition to the consequences for their companies.
‘ Criminal exploitation of leaseholders will be treated as a matter of the utmost seriousness.’
Mr Gove said a new recovery strategy unit would identify and pursue those who are culpable. Earlier he launched a renewed attack on the ‘cartel’ of developers, accusing them of building ‘shoddy’ homes.
The minister told GB News that ‘ some volume house
‘Shoddy and low quality’
builders have been producing homes that are shoddy and low quality’.
But Labour MP Marsha de Cordova said there was still no deadline to fix fire safety issues in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire and criticised the Government for ‘dodging its responsibilities’.
The housing committee has previously warned ‘too many leaseholders will fall through the cracks’ of Mr Gove’s plans. MPs said it leaves some buyto-let landlords and those in blocks under 11m high liable for bills of up to £15,000 each.