4. Statement by the Minister for Housing and Local Government: The Building Safety Regime White Paper

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:38 pm on 19 January 2021.

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Photo of Julie James Julie James Labour 4:38, 19 January 2021

Thank you, Mandy Jones. The issues are really complicated, and, as I said in answer to previous questions, your heart absolutely does go out to people who are stuck, in particular, with leases that they can neither sell nor remortgage nor anything else. But the complication is that it isn't only small leaseholders that own leases in this building. Unfortunately, there are also property firms who are buying up the leases at a cheap price in the hope the Government will fix the equity. So, there will be thorny thickets ahead in terms of who is able to claim for what in these things. The whole purpose of the White Paper in front of us is to make it crystal clear in future where that responsibility lies, and, as I said in response to Mike Hedges, at the moment, you've got to look at each individual building to try and figure out where the responsibility lies, and that's just not good enough. So, this White Paper proposes a regime that makes that responsibility crystal clear; it will make who is responsible for ensuring it crystal clear. As I said, it will make it much easier to get it right first time and much harder to get it wrong, and it will clarify all of those things. And, frankly, it will build buildings that are fit for human habitation and long-term investment, which is what our housing model requires.

Just in terms of the social sector, we have made £10.5 million available again for remediation in the social sector, where we have houses for social rent. We're able to do that through existing structures in our grant structure. That isn't possible in the private sector, so we are looking to put a fund in place that would assist people. But, as I say, it's really complicated to understand how to structure that fund so that the right people can claim and that we are not making good the investments of speculators, for example. That's just one example, though, and that does not take away from the fact that I absolutely understand the plight of the individual leaseholders and the amount of money that they're being asked to pay on a daily basis.