What tends to get lost in the debates around cladding is the fact that this crisis originates from a failure to properly regulate. The building regulations that are in operation, the building control system, permitted development that was intrinsically unsafe… and there were enough warnings through enough fires for government to address this.
The government has created the ACM Fund and Building Safety Fund, but it had to be dragged into doing it. Government failed to recognise that this was intrinsically where the problem was. Buildings are still being constructed with dangerous material on the outside.
Post-Grenfell, if the government had come out and said “we hold our hands up, the regulatory system doesn’t work, we will make funding available so everybody’s buildings can be made safe”, then people like ourselves, who are responsible for buildings, could have used that funding to make them safe, and they would be safe now.
Now there is a legal minefield. Legislation is so poorly drafted, it’s not that clear who is liable for what, and in what circumstance. That will prolong the crisis, which does not help residents in any way. We have always asked government to make money available so we can crack on and get buildings remediated, and we can sort out liability later.
The government must make it easier for freeholders and building owners not connected with the original development to pursue the developer efficiently so that remediation gets done as soon as possible. We need developers, where they still exist, to step up and fix buildings they developed.
Housing secretary Michael Gove must engage more with building owners and discover more about the benefits of leasehold and how building owners can help solve the safety crisis. We recognise our responsibility, but the question has never been about responsibility – it’s always been about liability.
Mick Platt, director, Residential Freehold Association
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