Sheffield MP calls on Government to cover £15 billion costs of cladding scandal

Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts has called on the Government to cover the estimated £15 billion cost of making thousands of homes safe after it was revealed they were built from dangerous materials or had failed fire regulations.
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Since the devastating Grenfell tower fire in London in June 2017, it has been discovered that thousands of flats and other properties in the UK are built from the same flammable cladding that is thought to have caused that blaze.

However, despite the Government promising £1.6 billion of funding to help affected homeowners, this could still leave thousands of people having to pay for mistakes that were no fault of their own, pushing many into negative equity and some even into bankruptcy.

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Mr Betts, who is also the chairman of the housing, communities and local government parliamentary select committee who have been conducting an investigation into this issue for several years, will today speak in Parliament in a debate timetabled by the Labour opposition.

Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts. Picture by Chris EtchellsSheffield South East MP Clive Betts. Picture by Chris Etchells
Sheffield South East MP Clive Betts. Picture by Chris Etchells

He said: “There are tens, probably hundreds, of thousands of people stuck in properties they can't sell. They are worried sick about the safety of those buildings and have no idea how they are going to pay for the repairs. This is just not an acceptable situation.

“The Government have done some things but everything they have done so far hasn't been sufficient. We want them to find a mechanism where the costs are covered. That could be taxpayers’ money or it could be a levy on the industry together with pursuing those developers who are responsible.

“But it isn’t just cladding, it is faulty insulation, it is fire breaks, it is faulty balconies and missing fire doors. So in the end what you need is a programme of work to make the buildings fire safe.

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“We will pursue those developers who are responsible wherever we can. And where money can’t be recouped which is probably the case in most respects the Government or the industry as a whole would have to pay. There is nobody else. Individual leaseholders would be bankrupt in many cases.”

Asked how such a dangerous and unfair situation has been allowed to happen over so many years, Mr Betts said it was a complex picture.

“In some cases developers have ignored the rules and the building regulations, in other cases the regulations are themselves at fault or not clear,” he said.

“This is why it is so difficult to legally pin the blame on any organisation because the builders will blame the architects and the architects will blame somebody else.

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“They will all blame the regulations for not being clear enough so there are an awful lot of issues that need addressing including tests results which have not been thoroughly carried out.

“There is a lot of evidence that materials have been tested but they are hawked round different testing stations until they get the result they like.

“It is quite scandalous and like Dame Judith Hackett’s report into the Grenfell fire said, the industry has got a race to the bottom and just cuts costs regardless of consequences.”

In these confusing and worrying times, local journalism is more vital than ever. Thanks to everyone who helps us ask the questions that matter by taking out a digital subscription or buying a paper. We stand together. Nancy Fielder, editor.