Latest news with #MinistryforHousing
Daily Mirror
13-06-2025
- Daily Mirror
Hundreds of thousands could be living in unsafe buildings 8 years after Grenfell
A huge campaign began at national and local level by leaseholders demanding their buildings' owners or constructors, and local authorities, fixed the potential fire hazards Hundreds of thousands of people are feared to live in unsafe buildings eight years after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire. A nationwide scandal erupted after 72 people were killed in the west London blaze in June 2017, when fire ripped through the block due to flammable cladding wrapped around the building. It quickly emerged that developments and social housing across the UK had been covered in similar or the same material. A huge campaign began at national and local level by leaseholders demanding their buildings' owners or constructors, or local authorities, remediated their tinder box blocks. In 2022, the government banned the specific type of cladding which allowed the blaze to spread so rapidly, meaning metal composite panels with an unmodified polyethylene core now cannot be used on any building of any height. Previously, the ban applied only to buildings higher than 11m. But as of March 31, government data showed that 500 of the 2,718 high and mid-rise social housing blocks with 'life-critical fire-safety cladding defects' have unclear remediation strategies. While on March 21, the Public Accounts Committee said that up to 7,000 unsafe buildings had yet to be identified. Its report added the government had 'yet to find a way to secure financial contributions from manufacturers of dangerous cladding'. The Committee said the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had not made enough progress to identify and fix the estimated 9,000 to 12,000 buildings over 11 metres that may need work. At the end of 2024, work had not yet started on half of the 5,000 buildings already within the UK Government's portfolio, it said. In Leeds, Rachael Loftus 48, is still fearing for her life inside the Timblebeck building, which is part of the Fearn Island Mills development. She bought her flat in 2007, having no idea of the risks the cladding on the building posed. Rachael, who is part of campaign group The Leeds Cladding Scandal, said: 'Along with the timber cladding on the outside of the building, we have also been told that this polycarbonate sheeting should never have been used on a residential building, because it's likely to melt if the temperature got very high. 'The other problem is that the insulation behind the outer wall is polystyrene, so that would melt and be quite toxic in the event of a fire.' Rachael - with the support of the Ministry of Housing - last year took the freeholders, Grey GR, to court to try and force them to start the process of remediation. As a result of the civil case, the work to make the cladding safe must be completed by November next year (2026). 'They have done nothing yet,' she said. 'In fact they have already started saying that they're not sure they will hit the November 2026 target. 'All of the surveys have said the same thing, that everything we knew about the building in 2020 is exactly the same now, and they've still not done a single thing.' She said there has been an 800% increase in her service charge, at £500 per month, while also forking out more than £600 each month for insurance, which has rocketed from £150 per year since the faults were discovered after Grenfell. 'We're paying these bills which are being caused by the delays of the freeholders,' she added. 'You'd think you'd get a discount for living somewhere unsafe, but obviously not. 'The freeholder has been saying for the past five-and-half years that 'safety is our number one priority'. We were initially told it would be sorted in two or three weeks.' She said leaseholders were unable to sell their flats and were 'stuck' in them while values nose-dived. ' Theresa May promised on that morning after the fire: 'Never Again', but there are many buildings that will testify that this 'never again' is infinitely possible. 'There have been a number of fires in buildings and only because they've been on high alert there haven't been losses of life. But it's just luck. 'We're living with a very high level of risk. If a building where 72 people died doesn't give the government a reminder - as it talks about house building and deregulation - of the risks that exist, then nothing will.' A spokesperson for Grey GR said it was not involved in the development of Fearn Island Mills and said it was awaiting approval from the Building Safety Regulator for its remediation plan. It added: 'The safety of residents has been and remains Grey's utmost priority.'
BBC News
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Tamworth arts event hopes to bring community together
A new arts festival is being organised to bring residents together in a Staffordshire town where rioting broke out last Kaleidoscope of Dreams will involve 22 schools in Tamworth borough, and culminate in an event at the Castle Grounds on 5 festival will include music and dance performances, as well as an art trail produced by local trail will lead participants to locations in the town centre, including the Assembly Rooms, library, St Editha's Church, and bandstand. "We're very privileged in Tamworth to have a fantastic community and voluntary sector," said council chief executive Stephen Gabriel."Since the dreadful events last summer we've been overwhelmed by how people have come together to support Tamworth communities."The festival aimed to encourage unity, equality and diversity, he added."We will continue to work collaboratively as we move forward, enhancing community cohesion for all."The event is funded by part of a community recovery grant of £600,000, awarded to the town after the disorder on 4 August that followed the murder of three girls in money, from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has been provided to help the local authority improve community unity and social trust. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
31-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Birmingham bin strike: Tories call for government intervention
Senior Conservative politicians have called for government intervention over the "escalating emergency" of Birmingham's ongoing bin strikes. In a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government Secretary Angela Rayner, they called for action to "tackle the chaos" and said the all-out strikes, which started on 11 March, had left streets "covered in rat-infested rubbish".They called for "urgent steps", including cutting councillors' pay to put funds towards refuse collection and other Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has been contacted for a response. Talks between the city council and Unite union aimed at resolving the dispute are set to resume on Monday. Negotiations collapsed on Thursday and the local authority has threatened compulsory redundancies. But Unite said it was determined to reach a resolution. The row centres around the loss of a job role the union claims would mean about 50 staff losing up to £8,000 a year - a figure disputed by the local authority. Birmingham City Council said it had made a "very fair" offer that would mean no worker would need to lose any money, and that offer remained on the the letter to Rayner, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart and shadow local government secretary Kevin Hollinrake said the "risk of disease" in the city was "rising by the day" and the Labour government should send in private sector rubbish collectors to "bust" the strikes. They also called for it to hold a Cobra meeting to bring together different groups, including national and local government officials and public health officials. In 2023, commissioners were brought in for five years to run the council after it effectively went bankrupt, and the letter called for them to be told to slash councillors' pay after they "shamefully awarded themselves a 5.7% pay rise".The city council told the BBC the pay rise "was the recommendation of an independent panel and had cross-party agreement" but said the politicians' letter was for the government to respond to. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cladding tax on new homes delayed for a year
Ministers have delayed a tax to fund the removal of unsafe cladding from homes after developers warned it could hamper the government's housebuilding plans. The Ministry for Housing said on Monday the Building Safety Levy would be introduced from autumn 2026, rather than this year. The tax on new homes is expected to raise £3.4bn to be spent on building safety, including efforts to take down dangerous cladding. The delay comes after developers said the tax could increase building costs and result in the government missing its target to build 1.5 million homes by 2030. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook told LBC the government was still committed to the tax and insisted the delay would not slow down the pace of improving building safety. "The previous government left us with an unpalatable inheritance in that respect," Pennycook said. "We've got to increase ther pace of works being done. Leaseholders are still trapped in these buildings." Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, welcomed the delay as "recognition from government that these additional costs will inevitably constrain housing supply". But he suggested the "grossly unfair" tax on housing developers should be scrapped altogether. He said: "As proposed it will add thousands of pounds to the cost of new homes, threatening the viability of sites across swathes of the country at a time when industry is striving to reverse the decline in homebuilding numbers that we have seen in recent years." Cladding removal plan not ambitious enough, say MPs New deadlines set for fixing dangerous cladding The tax was first announced in 2021 by the then-Conservative government. Some of the money raised from the tax will go towards the removal of dangerous cladding from buildings, following the deadly fire at Grenfell Tower. Ministers have set aside £5.1bn to resolve the cladding crisis, expecting developers, building owners and social housing providers to pay the rest. Thousands of homes have been made safe, but as of December last year, work had yet to start on a quarter of the 1,323 tall buildings requiring attention. Up to 12,000 buildings and three million people could be affected. The lengthy process of identifying what work needs to be done and who should pay for it has left many residents living in fear of fires or with worries over costly repair bills. In its general election manifesto, Labour pledged to "take decisive action to improve building safety" and to "put a renewed focus on ensuring those responsible for the building safety crisis pay to put it right". Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government was planning to introduce the Building Safety Levy in September this year. But in a letter to Rayner, dozens of developers said "the ability of the industry to invest in increasing the supply of new homes to meet the government's 1.5 million target is being threatened by the imposition of new taxes". Housebuilders say they are already paying £6.5bn towards improving building safety through corporation tax and argue makers of unsafe cladding should bear more of the costs. Home Builders Federation estimates the tax could add £1,580 to the cost of building a home and lead to the loss of about 70,000 affordable homes over 10 years. A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "This government is determined to make Britain's homes safer by making developers pay their fair share to fix unsafe buildings through the Building Safety Levy. "We have extended the timeline to give developers more time to factor levy costs into their plans while continuing to support them to build safe homes, and at the same time we are continuing to work quickly to fix buildings with unsafe cladding through our Remediation Acceleration Plan."
BBC News
25-03-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Cladding tax on new homes delayed for a year
Ministers have delayed a tax to fund the removal of unsafe cladding from homes after developers warned it could hamper the government's housebuilding Ministry for Housing said on Monday the Building Safety Levy would be introduced from autumn 2026, rather than this tax on new homes is expected to raise £3.4bn to be spent on building safety, including efforts to take down dangerous delay comes after developers said the tax could increase building costs and result in the government missing its target to build 1.5 million homes by 2030. Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook told LBC the government was still committed to the tax and insisted the delay would not slow down the pace of improving building safety."The previous government left us with an unpalatable inheritance in that respect," Pennycook said."We've got to increase ther pace of works being done. Leaseholders are still trapped in these buildings."Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, welcomed the delay as "recognition from government that these additional costs will inevitably constrain housing supply".But he suggested the "grossly unfair" tax on housing developers should be scrapped said: "As proposed it will add thousands of pounds to the cost of new homes, threatening the viability of sites across swathes of the country at a time when industry is striving to reverse the decline in homebuilding numbers that we have seen in recent years." The tax was first announced in 2021 by the then-Conservative of the money raised from the tax will go towards the removal of dangerous cladding from buildings, following the deadly fire at Grenfell have set aside £5.1bn to resolve the cladding crisis, expecting developers, building owners and social housing providers to pay the of homes have been made safe, but as of December last year, work had yet to start on a quarter of the 1,323 tall buildings requiring to 12,000 buildings and three million people could be lengthy process of identifying what work needs to be done and who should pay for it has left many residents living in fear of fires or with worries over costly repair bills. In its general election manifesto, Labour pledged to "take decisive action to improve building safety" and to "put a renewed focus on ensuring those responsible for the building safety crisis pay to put it right".Last year, Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said the government was planning to introduce the Building Safety Levy in September this in a letter to Rayner, dozens of developers said "the ability of the industry to invest in increasing the supply of new homes to meet the government's 1.5 million target is being threatened by the imposition of new taxes".Housebuilders say they are already paying £6.5bn towards improving building safety through corporation tax and argue makers of unsafe cladding should bear more of the Builders Federation estimates the tax could add £1,580 to the cost of building a home and lead to the loss of about 70,000 affordable homes over 10 years.A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said: "This government is determined to make Britain's homes safer by making developers pay their fair share to fix unsafe buildings through the Building Safety Levy."We have extended the timeline to give developers more time to factor levy costs into their plans while continuing to support them to build safe homes, and at the same time we are continuing to work quickly to fix buildings with unsafe cladding through our Remediation Acceleration Plan."
