Cladding crisis: Housing Secretary set to announce billions of pounds of support

10 February 2021, 09:42 | Updated: 10 February 2021, 09:53

The Government is expected to announce billions of pounds in funding to help tackle the cladding crisis, more than three and a half years after the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders are facing huge bills to remove the dangerous materials from their homes - and many say they are trapped and unable to sell.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick is due to address the Commons later today, where it is believed he will set out a package of measures.

Young mum stuck in her "worthless" flat due to unsafe cladding

According to reports, plans under consideration include a £5 billion grant on top of the £1.6 billion safety fund that leaseholders can currently apply to.

It comes amid growing criticism of the Government's response to the cladding crisis in the wake of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, which killed 72 people.

Labour has called for a national taskforce to "get a grip" and said leaseholders should be protected from the cost of replacing dangerous cladding on homes.

Residents of buildings with flammable cladding have said the claddings has made their flats "worthless" and they are "trapped" and unable to sell the properties.

However campaigners have criticised the fund as being "not enough."

Campaigner Liam Spender told LBC: "It's welcome, but the estimated costs are £15bn, so where is the rest going to come from?

"There's obviously uncertainty about whether the government is going for force leaseholders to take loans to pay for others' mistakes."