Failure To Carry Out Post-Grenfell Work Leaves Residents In "Perpetual Anxiety"

Labour’s shadow minister responsible for building safety and homelessness Mike Amesbury has said people in homes built with potentially dangerous materials are caught in a “perpetual state of anxiety and frustration”, and accused developers and insurers of playing “ping pong” with remediation work.

Amesbury told PoliticsHome that ministers should adopt a “more interventionist approach” to speed up the process of buildings having dangerous materials removed or fixed.

Building safety has been under the spotlight since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 which killed 72 people.

Last year, 55 developers signed a contract with the government obliging them to take responsibility for fire safety defects that are “life-critical” that have come about as a result of the design and construction of buildings that are over 11 metres tall. The contract applies to buildings in England that have been developed or refurbished in the 30 years up to 4 April 2022.  

Amesbury, who has submitted a number of Written Ministerial Questions (WMQs) to the Government on the developer contract in recent weeks, said the process is being held up by what he called a “‘ping pong’ between developers, freeholders, managing agents and insurers.” 

“A number of developers employ their own fire safety-building control assessors with an eye to doing the bare minimum [of] remediation work,” he went on. 

“While freeholders, sometimes via managing agents, believe buildings are being made half safe, which puts upward pressure on insurance premiums. The result of all this wrangling is many unsafe buildings remain in limbo with residents and leaseholders locked in a perpetual state of anxiety and frustration.”

Amesbury added: “Everyone deserves to feel safe in their own home,