Cladding Crisis: Government should take risk off leaseholders, Labour MP tells LBC
28 January 2021, 15:38 | Updated: 28 January 2021, 15:45
Cladding Crisis: Government should take risk off leaseholders, Labour MP tells LBC
This is the moment Labour MP Thangam Debbonaire told LBC the Government needs to "take the risk off leaseholders" while addressing the Cladding Crisis
The comments come after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer revealed exclusively to LBC that his party planned to force a vote in the Commons on the issue.
Speaking to LBC's Nick Ferrari Sir Keir Starmer said the current situation - with residents trapped in dangerous properties they cannot sell - is "intolerable"
Explaining to Shelagh Fogarty how she would like the Government to protect leaseholders, the Shadow Secretary of State for Housing said there were still people living in homes covered in dangerous cladding.
Thangam Debbonaire said Labour wants the Government to urgently act, and also to go after those who have caused the problem.
She added that almost four years on from the Grenfell tragedy, the Government has failed to get a grip of the cladding scandal, which is now estimated to affect millions of homes and as much as 16 per cent of Britain’s housing stock.
Labour’s motion calls 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;
-protect leaseholders and taxpayers from the cost by pursuing those responsible for the cladding crisis.
The move comes as Labour has tabled an amendment to the Fire Safety Bill to prevent building owners from passing unreasonable costs on to leaseholders. A similar amendment tabled by Conservative MPs Stephen McPartland and Royston Smith has been signed by 27 Tory MPs.
Cladding Crisis: Labour to force vote to protect millions of leaseholders
