Dean Russell welcomed the new approach that has been announced by the government to deliver a solution to fix the problem of combustible cladding on high-rise buildings.
The tragedy at Grenfell Tower in 2017 led to a nationwide response to ensure that all high-rise buildings were safe to live in. Following this, flammable cladding was discovered to be covering hundreds of blocks of flats across the UK. Although progress has been made to ensure that nearly all flammable cladding has now been removed from these buildings, questions have remained over who should pay for the rest of this work to be completed, with many leaseholders finding that they were potentially liable despite purchasing properties on the understanding that they were safe to live in.
To resolve this issue, the government has asked businesses in the residential property developer sector to take three important steps. Firstly, to make financial contributions this year and in subsequent years to a dedicated fund to cover the full outstanding costs to remediate unsafe cladding on buildings that are between 11 metres and 18 metres tall. Secondly, that they fund and undertake all necessary remediation of buildings over 11 metres tall that they have contributed to the development of. Finally, that they provide comprehensive information on all buildings over 11 metres tall which have historic fire safety defects that they have contributed to the construction of in the last 30 years.
Following the announcement, Dean said: “A number of Watford residents have contacted me on this issue, so I am pleased that the government has announced a plan of action that will provide both certainty and safety to people living in buildings that unfortunately still have unsafe cladding on them. It is right that developers, rather than residents, should pay for the cost of this work and I sincerely hope that the industry will swiftly take the steps outlined by the government to resolve this issue.”
