We welcome the steps that have been taken to date to address dangerous cladding and other fire safety issues, including the ban on combustible cladding. However, the Government needs to act with urgency to deliver protections for residents in dangerous buildings as quickly as possible.
Key messages
- We welcome the steps that have been taken to date to address dangerous cladding and other fire safety issues, including the ban on combustible cladding. However, the Government needs to act with urgency to deliver protections for residents in dangerous buildings as quickly as possible.
- Social housing providers are acting to protect residents. While some private landlords are doing the same, there is a significant issue with private landlords who are reluctant to act, are passing charges onto leaseholders, or sometimes cannot be identified.
- The Government needs to address the problems facing leaseholders in privately owned blocks who are being told that they are liable for the cost of remediation and the interim costs of interim fire safety measures.
- We pushed for action to identify and remediate other dangerous forms of cladding. The Government has taken some steps to achieve this, but more needs to be done.
- The LGA has pushed for Government to give social housing providers clear guidance on what materials can be used to replace unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding.
- We called for action to address shortcomings in legislation that are hampering efforts by councils and fire services to identify landlords and require them to undertake remedial work. We welcome the moves Government has made to do this through an addendum to the Housing Health and Safety Rating System.