On 17th September, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety and Homelessness, Rushanara Ali, confirmed that action will be taken to support residents in Churchmans House, a tower block in Ipswich affected by the building safety crisis.
This commitment came in a response to my letter to the Minister for Building Safety, Rushanara Ali, where I urged the Government to fund remediation works and protect leaseholders.
The Minister confirmed that to me that Churchmans House is eligible for funding to remediate all necessary works identified in the Fire Risk Assessment of External Walls. The Minister went on to state that “The Grant Funding Agreement has been executed and an additional pre-tender support payment is due to be released next week.”
The Minister also confirmed that “no contribution from leaseholders will be sought for eligible works”.
This represents important progress for Churchmans House leaseholders, who have lived through uncertainty and concern for their future.
I was pleased that the Minister has now confirmed with me that Churchmans House is fully eligible for government funding to fix external cladding, and that extra pre-tender support payment will be made available. This is a crucial step forward for leaseholders at Churchmans House, who are a step closer to justice and normality.
Though there is still progress to be made, and it must be ensured that those responsible for the building safety crisis are held accountable, I will continue to work proactively and constructively with local residents and the Government to ensure the pledges made in the wake of the Grenfell Inquiry are practicably enforced as swiftly as possible.
More widely, the Government has pledged to tackle the building safety crisis by improving building safety, including by regulation, reviewing how to better protect leaseholders from costs, and accelerating the pace of remediation. It also promised to ensure those who caused the building safety crisis are the ones who pay to fix it, bring the leasehold system to an end, and enact the Law Commission proposals on leaseholder enfranchisement, right to manage and commonhold.
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