The building safety crisis was caused by a decades-long collective failure by the construction industry and successive governments that ignored warnings that the building regime was not fit for purpose. Every leaseholder is blameless and must have equal protection from the cost of remediating safety defects.

There should be no “non-qualifying” leases, and all multi-occupancy residential buildings should qualify for the leaseholder protections.
  • The Responsible Actors Scheme (developer self-remediation) and the Cladding Safety Scheme should be extended to cover buildings under 11 metres. All work recommended by risk assessments must be equally eligible for funding – otherwise we face the prospect that some homes will never be made safe, sellable or insurable. If only a small number of buildings under 11 metres need remediation, it is illogical to withhold funding as this has a ripple effect on all buildings of this height.
  • All buildings should qualify for the leaseholder protections, regardless of the building height or whether it is leaseholder-owned or enfranchised. The protections place a cap on the maximum cost payable and also ensure only 1/10th can be charged in a single year.
  • All leaseholders should qualify for the leaseholder protections, regardless of the number of properties owned. If the government maintains that blameless leaseholders of “substantial means” should pay for historic defects, it should clearly set out the financial assessment it will use to determine this and the route for appeals.
All “qualifying” leases should have full 100% protection from costs.
  • No leaseholder should pay a penny to remediate building safety defects, the cap should be zero (£0). If the government maintains that leaseholders should shoulder any costs, it should be transparent by reporting how many leaseholders are paying and how much.
  • Social housing landlords should have equal access to funding, otherwise leaseholders and tenants will effectively pay for remediation through their rent and other charges. In return, all their residents should be fully protected from costs and landlords should offer buyback options to shared owners with unmortgageable flats they can no longer afford or that no longer meet their housing needs.