Caroline Pidgeon has strongly criticised the Government's latest scheme to address the cladding and fire safety scandal, which would see leaseholders paying to fix cladding defects which are no fault of their own, and leave other fire safety defects unaddressed.
Caroline said:
This Government announcement flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s assurance just last week that no leaseholders would have to pay the costs for remediation.
I’m particularly frustrated on behalf of Londoners living in buildings under 18m tall with dangerous cladding or fire safety defects. The Government should not be setting up a loans-based system for these leaseholders, which could see them paying up to £50 a month for years to come. Government must increase the proposed developer levy to ensure no innocent leaseholders pay.
It also seems the case that Government will only fund the remediation of dangerous cladding and not other serious unresolved fire safety defects. This will leave thousands footing expensive remediation bills and living in dangerous homes. This crisis is far from resolved!