Leader of the Labour Party, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for a National Cladding Taskforce to speed up the pace of removing unsafe cladding from high rise residential properties.
New figures from Labour suggest up to 11 million people are at risk from huge costs to remove unsafe cladding and from having unsellable properties.
The Labour leader has called for a new National Cladding Taskforce, which is modelled on the successful approach taken in Australia, to get a grip on the deepening cladding crisis and protect leaseholders from bearing the cost.
As analysis shows, one in six UK homes are now at risk from the cladding scandal. Sir Keir Starmer has set out a comprehensive set of policy demands to kickstart action from the government and argues that it must be a “turning point” for the crisis.
The National Cladding Taskforce would drive forward Labour’s six demands for safer homes, which include:
- Immediate up-front funding for removing deadly cladding and other urgent fire safety work.
- Protecting leaseholders and taxpayers by pursuing those responsible for the cladding scandal for costs.
- A new, legally enforceable 2022 deadline to make homes safe.
- Legislation to protect residents from costs.
- Getting the market moving by ensuring affected residents can sell and re-mortgage.
- Stamping out rouge builders by reforming the sector.
Labour is calling for a National Cladding Taskforce to drive this work after years of delays and ineffective measures from the government. The taskforce would be given strong powers to establish the full extent of dangerous materials on buildings, prioritise them according to risk, and ensure there is enforcement against those who refuse to undertake works.
Labour’s analysis of figures from the New Build Database and the Office for National Statistics suggests the cladding scandal could be even larger than previously thought, affecting as many as 11 million people.
The New Build Database estimates the scandal may affect up to 4.6 million properties, with an average of 2.4 residents per property. Data also shows the scandal risks freezing the entire market for flats, after sales halved compared to last year.
Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, said: “There needs to be a turning point for those affected by the cladding scandal. Millions of people have been sucked into this crisis due to years of dither, delay, and half-baked solutions from the government.
“For many leaseholders, the dream of home ownership has become a nightmare. They feel abandoned, locked down in flammable homes and facing ruinous costs for repair work and interim safety measures.
“I urge the government to get a grip of this crisis through a national taskforce and by implementing Labour’s six demands.”
Support calls for a taskforce
Meanwhile, the British Safety Council has said, on many occasions, that it is unacceptable for leaseholders to be presented with huge bills to fix existing fire problems not of their making or be unable to sell or insure their homes due to new requirements.
Mike Robinson, chief executive of the British Safety Council, said: “We support the call for a National Cladding Taskforce and for legislation to protect leaseholders from costs. Some four years after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the pace of removal of unsafe cladding has been disappointing, particularly given the risk to life that it presents.”
Mike continued: “While there have been warm noises from the government about protecting leaseholders from costs, no concrete steps have been taken to rule this out – to do anything other would be unjust and plain wrong.”
“A legally enforceable 2022 deadline to make homes safe would help to catalyse action to remove unsafe cladding and provide some comfort to leaseholders.”
