On Monday 30 January 2023, the Housing Secretary made a statement on the Government’s progress on ensuring buildings were safe from fire safety issues.  I know what an issue of concern this is for people living in several developments in Hornsey & Wood Green, whose lives have been on hold for five and a half years, stuck in unsellable flats and facing unaffordable bills through no fault of their own.

The Government said a year ago that it was putting developers on notice, yet only 7% of flats at risk have been fixed since the Grenfell fire in 2017.  Developers have been given until 13 March to sign a contract legally binding them to fix all life-critical safety issues in buildings over 11 metres, but there’s no deadline for when unsafe classing must be removed.  I also remain extremely concerned that the Government’s actions haven’t addressed the issues faced by people living in flats below 11 metres with other fire safety issues that go beyond cladding and who are still facing the possibility of huge bills.

During the passage of the Building Safety Act, Labour pressed for leaseholders in unsafe smaller buildings to be protected. Ministers refused, promising instead to provide support on a case-by-case basis yet no help has been forthcoming.  That isn’t good enough.  As Labour have consistently maintained, all blameless leaseholders should be protected from the costs of remediating historical cladding and non-cladding defects, and associated secondary costs, irrespective of circumstance.

Meanwhile, there has been no announcement on any new measures against product manufacturers and building owners, despite the Government acknowledging their role in this. I believe this is not only unhelpful but immoral as many of them continue to profit from homes that are unsafe.

Much more will need to be done to bring the building safety crisis to an end in a way that fully protects all its blameless victims.