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This petition was submitted during the 2019 to 2024 Parliament

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Closed Give leaseholders more legal protection and consumer rights

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1. To amend Sections 88 & 89 of the Building Safety Bill so that leaseholders are not financially liable for building safety defects

2. To amend the limitation period for claims under S.1 Defective Premises Act 1972 to allow limitation to run 6 years from the date of discovery of the defects

Following Grenfell, the Government have set aside £1bn for historical cladding defects. This is nowhere near enough to fix all buildings requiring remediation.

Leaseholders have no legal protection against astronomical & life ruining costs incurred as a result of building safety failure. This is unacceptable.

It should not fall to leaseholders to remedy the failure of building safety regulations in buildings they did not build, did not sign off as safe when it was not & don’t even own.

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  • Related activity

    Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee continues to investigate cladding issues

    A group of MPs called the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee continues to investigate issues relating to cladding remediation.

    On 21 May the Chair of the Committee, Clive Betts MP, wrote to the Government asking what they were doing to support the implementation of new Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RCIS) guidance on whether an EWS1 form should be required for a particular building, and what action the Government would take if mortgage lenders continue to require EWS1 forms for buildings that do not meet RICS criteria.

    You can read the full letter here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5990/documents/67920/default/

    This correspondence follows two reports by the Committee on cladding remediation, which have looked at progress in removing potentially dangerous cladding from high-rise and high-risk buildings, the adequacy of funding by the Government, and the steps that are being taken to ensure that leaseholders and tenants are protected from bearing the costs of historical building safety defects.

    You can read the Committee's first report on cladding remediation, published in June 2020, here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1438/documents/13153/default/

    The Government responded to the Committee's report in September 2020, and you can read their response here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/2404/documents/46718/default/

    You can read the Committee's follow-up report, published in April 2021, here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5702/documents/56234/default/

    The Committee has also scrutinised draft legislation to improve building and fire safety. You can read their pre-legislative scrutiny report of the Building Safety Bill here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/3605/documents/35262/default/

    Follow the Committee on Twitter for updates: @CommonsHCLG

    What is the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee?

    The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is a group of MPs which scrutinises the policy, administration and spending of the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

    It's a cross-party Committee and is independent of the Government. You can find out more about the Committee on the UK Parliament website:
    https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/17/housing-communities-and-local-government-committee
     
    The Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee is a ‘select committee’. Find out how Select Committees work:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_2RDuDs44c

  • Petition closed

  • Related activity

    MPs to debate residential leaseholders and interim fire safety costs

    MPs will debate residential leaseholders and interim fire safety costs on Wednesday 10 March in Westminster Hall.

    This will be a general debate. General debates allow MPs to debate important issues, however they do not end in a vote nor can they change the law.

    The debate will start at 9.25am and last up to an hour and a half.

    Watch the debate: https://www.parliamentlive.tv/Event/Index/cc3ee26b-ec8a-4ba1-9ca9-431f9a21501d

    Find out more about how Parliamentary debates work: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/debates/

    Further information

    The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper on "Leasehold high-rise flats: who pays for fire safety work?", which you can read here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8244/

  • Related activity

    Urgent Question asked in House of Commons about the removal of dangerous cladding

    On Tuesday 24 November there was an Urgent Question put to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, asking if he would make a statement on whether leaseholders are expected to pay for the removal of dangerous cladding from their homes.

    You can watch the response from Christopher Pincher MP, Minister for Housing, and further questions on the topic here: https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/98e1ca38-ef74-48ed-a82c-3dae8c2334e5?in=12:40:48&out=14:10:00

    What is an Urgent Question?

    If an urgent or important matter arises which an MP believes requires an immediate answer from a government minister, they may apply to ask an urgent question.

    Find out more about Urgent Questions here: https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/business/urgent-questions/

  • Petition published

    This petition can now be signed.

    If this petition gets 10,000 signatures, government will respond to it.

    If this petition gets 100,000 signatures, it will be considered for debate in Parliament.

    This petition will stay open until 13 April 2021.