In response to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick’s, announcement of £3.5 billion of funding to go towards stripping unsafe cladding from buildings, Labour’s London Assembly Fire and Resilience Spokesperson, Andrew Dismore AM, said:
“Any new funding aimed at stripping unsafe cladding to protect Londoners is welcome. However, Ministers are aware of the huge scale of the cladding scandal and this package simply does not go far enough.
“The offer of loans to leaseholders in buildings between 11 and 18 metres is also completely unacceptable. London’s beleaguered leaseholders are already facing financial ruin due to the Government’s inertia- and now they face being saddled with more debt.
“The bottom line is that, to supplement the removal of the ESW1 forms requirement, the Government needs to foot the bill for remediation works in smaller buildings. Leaseholders are already paying for exorbitant waking watch fire patrols on top of their insurance bills, service charges and their mortgages”.
Notes to editors
Andrew Dismore AM is the London Assembly Member for Barnet and Camden.