1/12 It is both regrettable & a testament to political checks/balances that the #FireSafetyBill discussion continues. It's a complex issue, a systematic failure, profit being prioritised over safety, inadequate regulation & an insidious relationship between industries & politics.
2. On Tues the govt. will say that the proposed FSB amendment is too simplistic, is holding up important legislation, is an example of the overreach of unelected peers & would have far reaching & unintended consequences. The Fire Safety Bill is a welcome change, but any delay...
3. ...is caused by the govt. and the continued failure to adequately address a national building scandal. If the FSB does not pass before the end of the session that is wholly down to the govt. and their choice to prioritise donors over voters and not to find a real solution.
4. Invasive surveys & scrutiny following the tragic Grenfell fire have found a plethora of building safety issues in homes that were sold as safe. Missing fire breaks/cavity barriers, no compartmentalisation, cladding and timber balconies are just the tip of a growing iceberg.
5. These were choices made by companies who cut-corners, bodged jobs & sold unsafe homes. Organisations that have made & continue to make huge profits & are rewarded by further govt. funding and schemes. The best that the govt. can do is politely ask them to contribute to...
6. …fixing their own mistakes and turn a blind eye if they don’t. Meanwhile the estimated cost sits between £15-50bilion. The govt. has provided welcome (aka “unprecedented”) funding, which is significant and we are grateful. But ultimately this is a fraction of what is needed.
7. There is an enormous shortfall & no realistic solution. The funding schemes that are operational are a lottery. Where some buildings are eligible & others are not. Thousands of applicants to the Building Safety Fund await news and, the funding will only cover cladding.
8. There is a real risk funding will run out & then...?
Details of the government loan scheme - the only sources of funding for buildings <18 metres – have yet to be announced & there remains significant uncertainty as to how what the govt. have said might work in practice.
Details of the government loan scheme - the only sources of funding for buildings <18 metres – have yet to be announced & there remains significant uncertainty as to how what the govt. have said might work in practice.
9. In the meantime, bills land on doorstops and have to be paid. Both for remediation works and for interim measures – measures like waking watch which are needed to make a buildings safe enough to be habitable. Bills of thousands, that normal people simply can't afford to pay.
10. Flats are meant to provide affordable housing, they are bought by first time buyers, by key workers, by young families, by pensioners etc. Under the FSB these ordinary people have 28 days to pay staggering bills. If they don’t they might go bankrupt...
11. ...,may forfeit their lease and lose their homes. The homes they were forced to fix. If MPs choose to ignore the moral issue here it's difficult to avoid the economic issue one. Widespread loan defaults would lead to a financial crisis stemming from the #BuildingSafetyCrisis.
12. So real is this that the Bank of England are modelling the risk. Because that is the “unintended consequence” of the unamended FSB. It is abhorrent that the party that brands itself as the party of homeownership will sit back, watch and wait as their constituents suffer.
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