Editor: When no one can be held responsible, everyone must be accountable. That is why we have a government to collect and use our taxes to defend us, protect us, educate us, heal us, house and employ some of us, or support us when we are not.
The vacuum over responsibility for resolving the cladding issue means that the government must step up to fill it with a sensible and comprehensive scheme, whether the building is tall or short.
The government should provide grants for 50% of the cost, requiring the leaseholders’ mortgagees to provide the balance on the same terms as an existing mortgage, either by extending the maturity date or increasing payments, whichever the mortgager prefers.
For those without a mortgage, the government must loan the balance on low interest rates repayable over a 10-year term or when the property is sold.
Leaseholders, innocent victims trapped in a crisis not of their making, must be restored to a position where their property is saleable and mortgageable, without further governmental incompetence, muddle and delay.
Anthony H Ratcliffe, Ratcliffes Chartered Surveyors
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