The cladding crisis is a huge mental and financial burden on people living in fire-risk homes across London. There are 590 high-rise residential London buildings being watched day and night, and ‘waking watches’ are costing Londoners in these buildings £16,000 an hour.
Residents are experiencing high levels of stress because of the financial strains, not knowing when their property will be repaired.
The London Assembly has today called on the Mayor to no longer work with developers that do not support leaseholders in these properties, establish a fire safety victims support hub, and trial a public fire safety risk assessment register in London.
Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, said:
“We need to listen victims of this crisis and represent their needs.
“Of course the Government needs to do more to comprehensively deal with the building safety crisis, and many of us will keep pushing for this. Yet it is too easy just to call on the Government. We need to look at the levers and powers the Mayor has to ensure far more is done to support those affected by this shameful scandal in London.
“With an affordable housing budget of over £4bn the Mayor could send a clear message to developers by refusing to work with those who are yet to take action to remediate fire safety issues in their existing stock. There are numerous other actions the Mayor could take to support leaseholders.
“We need the Mayor to couple warm words with action. As well as lobbying Government he needs to use his powers and levers to their full extent to give practical support to the thousands of Londoners impacted by this terrible scandal.”
The full text of the motion is:
“This Assembly recognises the significant financial and health impacts of the building safety crisis on thousands of Londoners.
Whilst this Assembly welcomes the £1.6 billion in funding packages made available by government for buildings with dangerous cladding to date, the size and scope of the funding is wholly insufficient to deal with the scale of the building safety crisis and leaves many facing extortionate bills and serious health problems, all while living in potentially dangerous homes.
This Assembly re-affirms its call that the UK Government must do more to ensure that innocent leaseholders do not pay the costs related to the building safety crisis and that all buildings impacted by the scandal can have remediation work completed as soon as possible.
As well as lobbying the Government, this Assembly urges the Mayor to go further and where possible implement, following consultation with the London Fire Brigade, the following steps to support leaseholders impacted by the building safety crisis in London:
- implement a clear policy of not working with or funding developers or housing associations that have not taken action to support leaseholders in existing stock they own or have built;
- establishing a fire safety victims support hub, which would provide both mental health and practical advice to leaseholders affected by the cladding and fire safety crisis in London;
- trial a public fire safety risk assessment register in London for residential properties, like those used for Energy Performance Certificates, so that prospective buyers or renters can see the fire safety rating of any potential home; and
- take every step to ensure applicants to both the Building Safety Fund and the Waking Watch Relief Fund hear back from the GLA regarding their applications as soon as practicable.”
Notes to editors
- Watch the full webcast.
- The motion was agreed by 14 votes for and none against.
- Hina Bokhari AM, who proposed the motion, is available for interviews.
- As well as investigating issues that matter to Londoners, the London Assembly acts as a check and a balance on the Mayor.
For media enquiries, please contact Louise Young on 07849 308 317. For out of hours media enquiries, call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the London Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit on 020 7983 4100.