Superb news in the latest report from the pre-legislative scrutiny committee on the Fire Safety Bill.

Written By steven bannister

An all party committee has been considering the New Fire Safety Bill. The Bill came out of the discovery that the cladding imposed on many tall blocks was a fire risk. For some time Freeholders have been billing leaseholders for the changes needed.

This is an outrage as Lessees are the least responsible. Here's what the Committee said:

  • The final Bill will establish new duties, some of them extremely onerous, on individuals and organisations responsible for building safety throughout the lifecycle of higher-risk buildings. We do not think it right to expect individuals to implement its provisions and assume such heavy responsibilities without sufficient transition periods.

  • The Government must recommit to the principle that leaseholders should not pay anything towards the cost of remediating historical building safety defects, and, in order to provide leaseholders with the peace of mind they deserve, amend the Bill to explicitly exclude historical costs from the building safety charge.

  • The draft Bill provides for landlords to recover the cost of building safety measures through a new building safety charge. Contrary to repeated assurances from Ministers, these provisions permit landlords to charge leaseholders for the cost of remediating historical building safety defects for which they were not responsible. We consider this unacceptable and an abdication of responsibility on the part of government.

I'm also the Vice Chair of the Federation of Private Residents Associations. We're thanking all the MP's and calling on the Government to go along with their report.


FPRA’s Vice-Chair Shula Rich has expressed thanks to all of the MPs on the Committee for their consideration of leaseholders caught in this plight:

Clive Betts MP (Labour, Sheffield South East) (Chair)
Bob Blackman MP (Conservative, Harrow East)
Ian Byrne MP (Labour, Liverpool, West Derby)
Brendan Clarke-Smith MP (Conservative, Bassetlaw)
Ben Everitt MP (Conservative, Milton Keynes North) 
Paul Holmes MP (Conservative, Eastleigh)
Rachel Hopkins MP (Labour, Luton South)
Ian Levy MP (Conservative, Blythe Valley)
Abena Oppong-Asare  MP (Labour, Erith and Thamesmead) 
Mary Robinson MP (Conservative, Cheadle)
Mohammad Yasin MP (Labour, Bedford)

Here is the link to their reports and conclusion:
https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/3605/documents/35262/default/

steven bannister
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