The Government is to fund and speed up cladding replacement

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Cladding of Flats:

It will no doubt come as a great relief to those landlords and leaseholder who are affected by the cladding scandal. For a long time it looked as though the cost of replacing dangerous cladding would be the primary responsibility of freeholders, which would have been passed on to the leaseholders.

However, the Government has now stepped in, number one to speed-up the replacement of the dangerous cladding, but two, to relieve leaseholders of a potentially horrendous liability and the stress that that threat was causing.

Around £200 million will be made available to remove and
replace unsafe cladding from around 170 privately owned high-rise buildings.

The government will fully fund the replacement of unsafe
aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on high-rise private residential
properties where building owners have failed to do so

Communities Secretary the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP says
he is calling time on “reckless� building owners who have refused to take
action. New funding estimated at £200 million to ensure this work takes place
urgently

This step has been taken, says Mr Brokenshire, after private
building owners failed to take action and tried to offload costs onto
leaseholders.

Prime Minister, Theresa May said:

“It is of paramount importance that everybody is able to feel
and be safe in their homes.

“That’s why we asked building owners in the private sector
to take action and make sure appropriate safety measures were in place.

“And we’ve seen a number of private building owners doing
the right thing and taking responsibility, but unfortunately too many are
continuing to pass on the costs of removal and replacement to leaseholders.

“Today I can confirm we will now be fully funding the replacement of cladding on high-rise private residential buildings so residents can feel confident they are secure in their homes.”

Communities Secretary, Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP, said:

“Although temporary measures are in place to ensure people
living in these buildings are safe, too many owners are treating this as a
permanent fix. Others are trying to pass on the costs to residents by
threatening them with bills running to thousands of pounds.

“While some building owners have been swift to act, and I
thank them for doing the right thing, I am now calling time on the delay
tactics of others. If these reckless building owners won’t act, the government
will.

“The government appreciates the work of Grenfell United and
the UK Cladding Action Group who have campaigned prominently, outlining the
challenges in getting private building owners to fund the replacement of
cladding on their homes.

“The government has already fully funded this work in social
housing developments. However, private developers and freeholders have been too
slow to act and leaseholders have been threatened with significant, often
unaffordable, costs resulting in delays.

“The latest figures show that 166 private buildings are yet
to start works on removing and replacing ACM cladding, compared to 23 in the
social sector.

“Building owners will have 3 months to access the new fund.
We will look carefully at those who fail to remediate and consider what further
action can be taken.

“Building owners and developers who have already fully funded the remediation of buildings are Pemberstone, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barratt Developments, Fraser Properties, Legal & General, Mace and Peabody.”

As a condition of funding, the Government will require the
building owner to take reasonable steps to recover the costs from those
responsible for the presence of the unsafe cladding.

The fund will be available for private high-rise residential
buildings (those containing homes). The government is already fully-funding the
replacement of unsafe ACM cladding on social sector properties.

Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the government
established a comprehensive building safety programme that included an
independent review of fire safety and building regulations. Plans outlined on
18 December 2018 explain how the government will implement the recommendations
made by Dame Judith Hackitt in her review of building regulations and fire
safety.

Building owners will be able to register for the fund by
early July.

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