I continue to be deeply concerned at the growing scandal of unsafe non-ACM cladding, both within the constituency and nationwide.

Leaseholders up and down the country are being charged tens of thousands of pounds for the remediation of cladding that has been deemed too unsafe to receive an EWS1 fire safety certificate following surveys. In addition to adding a huge financial burden upon residents, it is preventing many from being able to sell or remortgage their properties and is taking a huge mental and emotional toll.

To date, fifteen blocks within the constituency who are experiencing this problem have reached out to me. I have already written to the Freeholders and Property Managers of several of these blocks expressing my disappointment and concern and will be writing to several more in the coming weeks, and I have attended several meetings with Residents Associations and building owners. If you have not done so already, please contact fleur.anderson.mp@parliament.uk if you are leaseholder experiencing this issue.

I attended and spoke in a Parliamentary Debate on the issue of funding for cladding removal on Tuesday 14th July. In his response, the Government Minister said the following:

“Let me simply say that our intention is to make sure that leaseholders should not have to foot the bill; building owners and building managers and their agents should be looking after their buildings. That is why the Government have intervened with funding and specialist support, and we will not tolerate any further delays.”

Rest assured, I will be doing everything in my power to ensure the Government follows through on this intention. In the March budget, the Government announced a £1 billion fund for the remediation of non-ACM cladding. While this was a welcome development, given the growing scale of this crisis it is clearly not going to be enough.

The Government will be bringing forward the Building Safety Bill later this year. The draft Bill has been published, but in its current form the Bill does not give leaseholders the protection and justice they badly need. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee is carrying out Pre-legislative scrutiny of the Building Safety Bill and is now accepting written submissions of evidence. If you are a leaseholder and have been affected by this, I strongly recommend you make a submission to the Committee. You can do so here.