An extra £3.5bn has been promised by ministers to remove unsafe cladding from high-rise buildings over 18m high in England at no cost to residents. Many thousands of flat-owners face huge bills for fire-safety improvements, brought in after 2017's Grenfell Tower fire when flames spread via combustible cladding, killing 72 people.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said it was the largest ever government investment in building safety. Labour said it was "too late for many". The £3.5bn comes on top of funding of £1.6bn that was announced for the removal of unsafe cladding last year.
Ministers have come under growing to increase the pot as leaseholders have been hit by building improvement costs and soaring insurance costs.
Some say they have effectively become trapped in their own homes - unable to sell until the work is carried out yet in danger of bankrupting themselves to meet the costs.
The Housing Secretary told the Commons leaseholders in high-rise buildings above 18m, or with six storeys or more, would face no costs for cladding works. He said the risk was "significantly lower" for lower-rise blocks of flats. However, where cladding needed to be removed, Mr Jenrick announced a long-term scheme to protect leaseholders which would mean no leaseholder would pay more than £50 a month for the removal of unsafe cladding.
He also said a new levy would be placed on future developments. “It cannot be right the costs fall solely on tax payers,” he said adding that the government would develop a levy targeted at developers seeking to build certain high-rise buildings in England. He added that a new tax for the UK residential property sector would be introduced from 2022, raising money to help pay for the removal of cladding.
