Monday, July 05, 2021
Government abandon homeowners over defects and dangerous cladding
The Building Safety Bill, which is being published today, is already attracting the ire of Tory backbenchers. They are threatening to vote against the Bill, unless it includes safeguards to ensure leaseholders cannot be billed for the colossal building fire and safety remediation costs post-Grenfell.
The Mirror says that more than four years on from the Grenfell tragedy thousands of home-owners are still facing stress and financial ruin because they live in unsafe buildings which they are unable to sell:
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed they will be given double the amount of time to go after builders and developers who carried out shoddy work on their properties.
The Government will change the law to give home-owners 15 years - up from six - to take action against rogue developers.
Mr Jenrick will also today set out plans for a new Building Safety Regulator which he says will give residents more power and toughen sanctions against builders and developers who have put their safety at risk.
The new body will be responsible for ensuring that any building safety risks in new and existing residential buildings of 18m and above are resolved, taking costs into account.
This will include making sure that safety is considered at key stages of the design, construction and completion phases.
But that will bring little comfort or relief for the thousands of homeowners trapped in unsellable properties. Taking developers to court is hardly cheap, while it seems that there are no guarantees that leaseholders will not end up paying for remedial work anyway.
The Mirror says that more than four years on from the Grenfell tragedy thousands of home-owners are still facing stress and financial ruin because they live in unsafe buildings which they are unable to sell:
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has confirmed they will be given double the amount of time to go after builders and developers who carried out shoddy work on their properties.
The Government will change the law to give home-owners 15 years - up from six - to take action against rogue developers.
Mr Jenrick will also today set out plans for a new Building Safety Regulator which he says will give residents more power and toughen sanctions against builders and developers who have put their safety at risk.
The new body will be responsible for ensuring that any building safety risks in new and existing residential buildings of 18m and above are resolved, taking costs into account.
This will include making sure that safety is considered at key stages of the design, construction and completion phases.
But that will bring little comfort or relief for the thousands of homeowners trapped in unsellable properties. Taking developers to court is hardly cheap, while it seems that there are no guarantees that leaseholders will not end up paying for remedial work anyway.
The Government must act to ensure that repairs are carried out promptly and are paid for by the developers who created the defects in the first place.
