New blow for people affected by cladding

This week saw another blow for leaseholders living in flats affected by flammable cladding.

While the Government has promised financial help to replace cladding in its Fire Safety Bill, many buildings need thousands more spending on them to rectify other issues such as a lack of fire breaks and timber balconies. Meanwhile, innocent leaseholders are being crippled by sky high insurance premiums and payments for waking watch fire patrols.

The House of Lords had amended the Fire Safety Bill to ensure building owners could not pass on any remediation costs onto leaseholders. More than 30 rebel Tory MPs were to put that amendment to a vote but the House ran out of time.

The Commons voted by a majority of 115 to remove changes made by the House of Lords. The Bill will now go back to the Lords.

Labour MP Sarah Jones said: “It is shameful that the Government have voted against implementing vital fire safety measures called for by the Grenfell Inquiry, and it is an insult to people across the country that this government voted down protections for leaseholders from fire safety costs they did not cause.”

Home Office minister Kit Malthouse said that the Bill was not the right place for remediation costs to be addressed as its only role was to clarify that fire safety orders apply to cladding and flat entrances. He added that the Building Safety Bill, to be introduced in the spring, would contain detailed measures concerning payments.