Housing secretary announces £3.5bn to end cladding scandal - but is it enough?
Greater Manchester's Mayor Andy Burnham has described the announcement as an "unfair and divisive move".
Last updated 10th Feb 2021
The Government is pledging to provide a further £3.5 billion to help end the cladding scandal in England.
In a Commons statement, Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick told MPs that it would mean leaseholders in high-rise blocks would face no costs for cladding remediation work.
To help fund the scheme he said that the Government was imposing a new tax on residential property in the UK.
He said that without Government action building owners would simply pass on the costs of remediation work to leaseholders.
"That would risk punishing those who have worked hard, who have bought their own home, but through no fault of their own have found themselves caught in an absolutely invidious situation,'' he said.
On lower and medium-rise blocks of flats, Mr Jenrick said: "The Government will develop a long-term scheme to protect leaseholders in this situation, with financial support for cladding remediation on buildings between four and six storeys.
"Under a long-term low-interest scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding, many far less. Taken together this means the Government is providing more than #5 billion including a further £3.5 billion announced today plus the significant cost of the very generous financing scheme which will run for many years to come to ensure all leaseholders in medium and high-rise blocks face no costs or very low costs if cladding remediation is needed.
"Where it is, costs can still be significant for leaseholders, which is why we want to take these important steps.''
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has responded to the announcement on Twitter asking: "How on earth can the Government justify this unfair and divisive move?''
He noted that The Cube apartment block in Bolton "was below 18m but it burnt as quickly as Grenfell'' when it set alight in November 2019.
"1,000s of people in Greater Manchester will now face a choice of unaffordable loans or living with unsafe cladding,'' he said.
"The campaign goes on.''
Shadow housing secretary Thangam Debbonaire said the announcement by Robert Jenrick is a "repeat of undelivered promises''.
She told the Commons: "As a result of Government choices, three-and-a-half years on from the Grenfell tragedy in which 72 people lost their lives, hundreds of thousands of people are still trapped in unsafe homes, many more unable to move.
"And today's announcement is too late for too many. It's a repeat of undelivered promises and backtracks on the key one that leaseholders should have no costs to pay.
"The Chancellor said last March all unsafe combustible cladding will be removed from every private and social residential building above 18 metres high, but that has not happened.
"At every stage, the Government underestimated the problem and delays caused it to grow. They still don't know how many buildings are unsafe, where they are or what danger they pose.
"And until we have answers to those basic questions Government will continue to make mistakes, offering piece-meal solutions that then have to be updated when they don't deliver.