The Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Select Committee is calling for clarification from government on its recent building safety announcements.

In a letter to Secretary of State, Michael Gove, the cross-party group of MPs asks:

  1. Will social housing providers be exempt from the building safety levy?
  2. Will social housing providers have the same access to building safety funds as private providers?
  3. If not, please could you outline how the responsibilities of social housing providers and tenants differ from those of leaseholders?
  4. Is this committed £2 billion to remediate all buildings above 11m?
  5. Is the £2 billion to cover cladding issues only, or does it also include non-cladding issues?
  6. Is the £2 billion to include remediation of social housing blocks?
  7. As a result of this announcement, how much does the Government expect developers to reimburse to Building Safety Fund?
  8. When the Building Safety Levy was announced last year, it was projected to raise £2bn over 10 years. Is this further £3 billion additional to that £2 billion?
  9. Will the money raised through the building safety levy pay for non-cladding issues as well as cladding issues?
  10. Will the money raised through the building safety levy pay for remediation of social housing blocks?
  11. What is the total amount that the industry and Government will together spend on remediation?
  12. What steps are being taken to make sectors, other than construction product manufacturers, contribute?

Clive Betts, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (LUHC) Committee, said: “As a Committee, we welcome the Government’s announcement of an agreement that will, at long last, see the housing industry contribute £5bn to help address the building safety scandal. Leaseholders should not be paying a penny to put right faults not of their doing to make their homes safe.

“I hope the Secretary of State is able to provide clarification around what is covered by the funding announcement and the building safety levy, including whether it will apply to non-cladding as well as cladding issues, and the total expected amount that industry and Government will together spend on remediation.

“As we recommended in our recent Committee report, social landlords should have full access to funds for building safety remediation and be exempt from the Building Safety Levy. More detail from the Secretary of State on how social landlords will be affected would be welcome.

“It is disappointing the Construction Products Association continues to drag its feet and is yet to make a public funding commitment.

“We welcome the further steps the Secretary of State indicates he is taking in this area. All relevant parties to the building safety crisis should be required to contribute to the costs of fixing these issues.

“We hope the Secretary of State will set out what further steps are being taken to make sectors who have not made a public funding commitment, such as construction manufacturers, contribute.”