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Portsmouth MP vows to ‘hold the Government to their promise and help ensure leaseholders are protected from unfair fire safety costs’ 

By 30 January 2021No Comments

Labour will hold a vote on Monday (1 February 2021) in order to force the Government into action and protect millions of leaseholders from life-changing cladding costs and unsellable properties.

News of the latest intervention in the House of Commons has been welcomed by Stephen Morgan MP who has been taking action a range of actions to stand up for constituents over the remediation of unsafe cladding on residential blocks, and the impact this is having on leaseholders across the country.

Despite repeated promises from Ministers that cladding remediation costs would not be passed onto leaseholders, the Government has failed to deliver on this.

In the meantime, leaseholders across the country remain trapped in unsafe blocks during a third lockdown facing increasing interim costs and are often unable to sell or re-mortgage their property.

Stephen Morgan MP said:

“Three and a half years on from the tragic fire at Grenfell tower, the Government’s handling of the cladding crisis that has emerged has lacked any sense of grip or urgency.

I have deep concerns that people are being put at risk, trapped in flammable buildings for a third lockdown, and facing an unclear financial future.

Inaction has gone on too long. Labour is forcing a vote in Parliament calling on the Government to urgently establish the extent of dangerous cladding and prioritise buildings according to risk, provide upfront funding to ensure cladding remediation can start immediately, and protect leaseholders and taxpayers from the cost by pursuing those responsible for the cladding crisis.

I will also be supporting amendments to the Fire Safety Bill that hold the Government to their promise and help ensure leaseholders are protected from unfair fire safety costs”.

The amendment tabled by McPartland and Smith also provides welcome clarity on the specific costs that would be prevented from being passed on to leaseholders, but Labour has sought to go further.

As currently drafted, the McPartland and Smith amendment would not cover leaseholders in blocks where flammable cladding has been added at some stage following the building of the block. It only applies to defects in the original design of buildings. As an example, the Grenfell Tower was built in the 1970s, but the flammable cladding was added in 2017.

The Portsmouth South representative added:

“Labour has tabled an amendment that would ensure that the cost of fire safety problems from refurbishment jobs, like the cladding on the Grenfell tower, cannot be passed on to leaseholders. 

Labour’s amendments also include new clauses so that the Bill protects leaseholders from the day it comes into law, instead of an unknown date in the future. And Labour’s amendments ensure that if the Fire Safety Order is extended in the future, the Secretary of State must publish an analysis of the financial implications for leaseholders”.

MPs will be given the opportunity to vote for these amendments when the Bill returns to the House of Commons.

Stephen Morgan MP has been liaising with leaseholders at the Vista Apartments, Admiralty Quarter and Gunwharf Quays affected.