Scots ‘left in limbo’ over cladding repairs

THOUSANDS of Scots whose homes have potentially deadly cladding have been ‘left in limbo’ over repairs.

The UK Government yesterday vowed to force developers to take responsibility for all building safety defects in England.

Developers there will be asked to pay for any remedial action needed, which it is estimated will cost a total of £4billion.

Housing Secretary Michael Gove also said leaseholders in buildings between 11 metres (36ft) and 18 metres (59ft) tall will no longer have to take out loans to cover the costs of remedial work.

But the Scottish Government failed to offer hope to homeowners in buildings thought to contain dangerous cladding.

Mr Gove said: ‘We will make industry pay to fix all of the remaining problems and help to cover the range of costs facing leaseholders.’

Only leaseholders in buildings above 18 metres can currently access grants to replace unsafe cladding under measures introduced in England after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in 2017.

A Scots pilot scheme to assess the number of affected buildings was launched last year.

Following Mr Gove’s announcement, the Scottish Government said inspections of 25 buildings are under way ‘to identify cladding that may need to be removed and other potential fire safety risks’ as part of the initial phase of its Single Building Assessment programme.

It said these assessments are free of charge to homeowners, with work on affected buildings in Glasgow and Edinburgh expected to start in ‘the coming weeks’.

However, thousands of property owners in Scotland are still waiting to learn the details of any compensation scheme.

Scottish Conservative housing spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘Property owners in England won’t have to foot the bill for fixing dangerous cladding.

‘But Scots in the same position are still left in limbo, with no idea of what compensation they may be entitled to – or if they’ll be forced to take out loans themselves.

‘The SNP have already received millions of pounds from the UK Government to help building owners make their properties safe, but we have yet to hear any details about how this money is being used.’

David Alexander of estate agent DJ Alexander Scotland said: ‘For many thousands of homeowners the threat of being unable to insure, sell or mortgage their homes has hung over them for four years. They are the innocent parties in this.’

As well as low-rise properties, more than 100 council high-rises in Scotland have potentially deadly cladding.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: ‘We agree that developers must take corrective action. Where we have devolved responsibility we will take action to ensure Scottish homeowners do not bear the cost of fixing unsafe cladding.’

Comment – Page 16

‘The innocent parties in this’