£1Bn to Remove Dangerous Cladding

A new £1 billion fund has been created by the Government in order to meet the costs of removing unsafe non-ACM cladding on residential building which are 18 metres or over and that don’t comply with building regulations.

Building owners are being urged to act and put the safety of their residents first as the UK Government’s £1 billion Building Safety Fund to remove cladding was launched last week (May 26^th, 2020) by Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick MP.

The new fund comes as the Government published its new prospectus for the fund with will meet the costs of remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems on residential buildings in the private and social sector that are 18 metres and over and don’t comply with building regulations.

The funding it targeted, in the first instance, to supporting leaseholders in the private sector who are facing significant bills. However, the Government is clear that for leaseholders who live in buildings owned by providers in the social sector, it will provide the relevant funding to mee the provider’s costs which would otherwise have been borne by leaseholders. The UK Government also expects landlords to cover these costs without increasing the rent for tenants.

The Government are already providing £600 million for the replacement of ACM cladding systems bringing total funding or remediation up to £1.6 million. Ministers have also been clear that they expect building owners who are already remediating their buildings to continue to do so. They should also explore every opportunity to fund this work before seeking funding from Government or passing on costs to their leaseholders.

The Housing Secretary, along with Mayors and local leaders have also pledged to ensure vital building safety improvements continue during the COVID-19 pandemic.  This is to ensue the safety of those who live in high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding or insufficient fire safety measures is prioritised.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said:

“I am launching our £1 billion fund to remove unsafe non-ACM cladding from buildings. This is work that must take place as an absolute priority to keep residents safe and brings total funding for remediation up to £1.6 billion.

I will not accept any excuses from building owners who have yet to take action and those responsible should register for the fund so that they can start the remediation process immediately. I have also reached an agreement with local leaders so that this important work can continue safely during the pandemic.

New statutory guidance published today also means that all new residential buildings over 11 metres tall will be fitted with sprinkler systems. This is another critical part of our commitment to delivering the biggest changes to building safety for a generation.”

The Fire Safety Bill was introduced to Parliament last months, and, will empower fire and rescue services to take enforcement action and hold building owners to account if they do not comply with law.

Building Safety Minister Lord Greenhalgh said:

“Now that this additional £1 billion funding is in place, building owners must crack on with removing flammable cladding on all high-rise residential buildings that are over 18 metres.

The government will work with the Mayor of London and our Metro Mayors as well as local councils to ensure that these vital building safety works are finally carried out, so that people are safe in their homes”

The fund’s application process has been designed to enable projects to proceed at pace with building owners, freeholders or others responsible for the building urged to register for the fund on Monday as applications can be progressed alongside the development of the remediation project.

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