Building Safety Bill
Acting on the legacy of Grenfell
Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home. Yet nine years after the Grenfell Tower disaster, too many people are still living with unsafe cladding, unable to sell their homes or make plans for the future.
I spoke in the House of Commons this week about the experiences of residents at Monument Court and Vista Tower in Stevenage, who have spent years caught up in the building safety crisis.
One resident described feeling “imprisoned” in a property they cannot sell, with no idea when the nightmare will end. Another spoke of the anxiety of raising two young children in a home they know to be unsafe, while facing mounting insurance costs and draining their savings.
At Vista Tower, residents are facing a second round of remedial works and the prospect of being moved out of their homes, eight years after the fight for a resolution began.
The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill is an important step forward. It strengthens the powers to hold those responsible to account, accelerates remediation and aims to ensure leaseholders are not left footing the bill for defects they did not cause.
It's essential that we get the details right on this, as the consequences are enormous for so many people. Residents need proper access to assessments, clear work specifications and realistic timetables, as well as a meaningful say in decisions about their homes.
Developers and freeholders should not be left marking their own homework. Residents must have confidence that their buildings are being properly assessed and made safe.
I will continue pressing Ministers to make sure these reforms deliver real results for people in Stevenage and across the country.
We owe it to victims and families to act on the legacy of Grenfell and make sure that such a disaster never happens again. And the thousands of people still waiting for their homes to be made safe deserve certainty, security and the chance to move on with their lives.
