For some years we have been aware of, and faced directly, issues in the opaque residential building insurance regime. There has long appeared to be evidence of cartel-like behaviour by the insurers, with apparent conflicts of interest between freeholders, brokers, and insurers, meaning the building insurance that leaseholders are forced to pay for is not, and never has been, fair or fit for purpose.
Our statement following Select Committee on 8th November
On 8th November, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee questioned Secretary of State, Michael Gove, on a range of subjects including Building Safety. You can read our statement following Mr Gove’s appearance here.
Housing association leaseholders in London need the GLA to act
Many leaseholders in London bought their flats
through flagship government-backed schemes such as shared ownership. As a
result, a significant number of leaseholders have a housing association (HA) as
their landlord; the HA is also often the freeholder of their building, but this
is not always the case.
Unfortunately, many leaseholders who are caught up in the building safety crisis have found that their HA has been unhelpful, and we hear frequent examples of leaseholders experiencing very poor customer service. We also hear many reports of requests for fire risk assessments (FRAs) and EWS1 documents being turned down by HAs. We are also aware of an increasing number of requests to sublet flats being summarily refused. HAs often fail to provide any support, but also fail to uphold leaseholders’ human right to adequate housing.
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