HCLG Committee questions Building Safety Minister on cladding removal fund

Background

On 10 February, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick MP, announced package of measures worth £3.5 billion to support the removal of unsafe cladding from residential buildings. This included a commitment to fund the removal of all cladding from buildings of six stories or higher, a loan scheme for “lower risk” buildings and other measures to improve access to finance and insurance for homeowners. A new tax on the residential property development sector was also announced, with the intention of raising £2 billion over a decade to contribute to the cost of the cladding remediation measures.

Concerns have been raised that removing cladding will form only a part of the work needed to ensure all residential buildings are fire-safe. The loan fund has come in for criticism due to the potential drop in house value it may cause and there is uncertainty over how safe buildings can be insured or properties sold without additional stringent paperwork.

Purpose of the session

The session will question the Government on its proposals and their assessment of how far they go in resolving historic building safety issues. It will look at the financial legacy for homeowners and see if the threat of significant financial losses has truly been removed. It will also examine if those who caused the cladding crisis are paying their fair share to solve it.

Witnesses

Monday 8 March

From 4.00pm

• Lord Greenhalgh, Minister of State for Building Safety and Communities
• Richard Goodman, Director-General Building Safety, Grenfell & Net Zero

Further information

• About Parliament: Select committees
• Visiting Parliament: Watch committees

Image: Parliamentary copyright