Labour demands ‘task force’ to tackle dangerous cladding as 11MILLION face fire risk, higher costs and plunging property prices
- Sir Keir Starmer is demanding ministers set up a task force to fix cladding crisis
- Labour will try to force a vote in the House of Commons this afternoon on issue
- Labour estimates as many as 11million people could be affected by the crisis
Ministers must set up an Australian-style task force to fix the UK’s building cladding crisis by the end of next year, Sir Keir Starmer will demand today.
Labour says as many as 11million people – one in six households – could be affected by life-changing repair costs and finding their properties unsellable.
It comes ahead of a parliamentary debate this afternoon about protecting tenants and leaseholders from the sky-high costs of replacing unsafe cladding.
Labour will push for a vote on the issue calling on the Government to establish urgently the extent of dangerous cladding and prioritise buildings according to their risk.
It comes more than three-and-a-half years after the Grenfell Tower disaster in Kensington, West London, in 2017, which claimed the lives of 72 people.
Speaking ahead of the debate, Sir Keir said: ‘Today needs to be a turning point for those affected by the cladding scandal.
Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour Party will today demand the Government address the cladding crisis
‘Millions of people have been sucked into this crisis due to years of dither, delay and half-baked solutions from the government.
‘For many leaseholders, the dream of home ownership has become a nightmare. They feel abandoned, locked down in flammable homes and facing ruinous costs for repair work and interim safety measures.’
The Daily Mail has been campaigning for a solution to the cladding crisis, which has put as many as one in seven property deals under threat.
The National Cladding Taskforce proposed by Labour would be modelled on the approach adopted in Australia and would seek to urgently carry out an audit to establish the extent of dangerous materials on buildings.
Six demands have been set out by the party towards fixing the issue, including providing immediate up-front funding to remove deadly cladding and setting absolute deadlines to make homes safe.
They also include creating new laws to protect leaseholders from being passed historic fire safety costs, protecting leaseholders and taxpayers by pursuing those responsible for putting cladding on the buildings, as well as stamping out rogue builders by reforming the sector.
The party has also said the Government should work with lenders, insurers and other industry leaders to ensure residents can sell and remortgage.
Sir Keir said: ‘I urge Conservative MPs to vote with us in Parliament today and put their constituents’ safety and security first.
‘And I urge the Government to get a grip of this crisis through a national task force and by implementing Labour’s six demands.’
Labour’s analysis of figures from the New Build Database and the Office for National Statistics suggests the cladding scandal could be even larger than previously thought, affecting as many as 11million people.
The New Build Database estimates the scandal may affect up to 4.6million properties, with an average of 2.4 residents per property.
Data also shows the scandal risks freezing the entire market for flats after sales halved compared to last year.
Earlier this year, the Grenfell inquiry was temporarily suspended as a result of the national lockdown in England.
Hearings were due to begin after the Christmas break on January 11 but have now been pushed back until at least February, when it is hoped that evidence can begin to be heard remotely.