More homeowners who have been facing significant bills to make their homes safe will be given better protection from those high costs, under new measures announced by the Government.
Existing rules already protect many leaseholders from footing the bill for fixing historic building safety defects, but some people still fall through gaps in the system due to different forms of ownership not covered by the law, leaving them at risk of paying for problems they did not cause.
The government will now go further to narrow these gaps and give more people financial support.
Construction product manufacturers connected to historic unsafe cladding and insulation products will also be made to contribute more towards putting affected buildings right. For the first time, government will have powers it needs to recover contributions from manufacturers - and at scale.
These new proposals were unveiled in Parliament during the second reading of the Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill – a drive to get unsafe buildings fixed faster and make sure those responsible for fixing unsafe buildings will face tougher consequences if they fail to act.
Building Safety Minister Baroness Blake said: “We are going further to protect more homeowners from unfair costs and make construction product manufacturers contribute towards putting things right.
“Alongside new powers to force those responsible to fix unsafe buildings, these measures will help give residents the safety and security they deserve.”
The new measures will intend to help:
- Leaseholders who buy a flat as their only home but miss out on costs protections because of the previous owners’ circumstances.
- Leaseholders in collectively owned and enfranchised buildings who can face some of the biggest bills for fixing fire-safety problems.
- Leaseholders with multiple properties that have non-cladding building safety problems they did not cause and are not currently protected under the Building Safety Act.
The Bill will speed up action by placing a legal duty on those responsible to fix unsafe buildings, with those failing to act facing criminal penalties and fines of up to £500,000. It will also allow authorities to step in and get work done where those responsible consistently refuse to do so.
