Andrew Dismore

Thousands of people are still living in homes with ACM cladding in England.

The Government has provided £400m to deal with social sector ACM cladding, but the costs of fire safety remediation works for London boroughs could rise to £1 billion.

Today, the London Assembly called on the Mayor to work with London Councils to estimate of the costs to social sector housing providers of remediating their fire safety risks.

Andrew Dismore AM, who proposed the motion said:

“Alongside significantly boosting the pipeline of supply, our current housing policies must also urgently confront two other major challenges: tackling the climate emergency and ensuring that all homes are safe for Londoners to live in.

“To this end, local authorities and housing associations must continue to prioritise decarbonising their properties and fully commit to carrying out vital fire safety remediation works.

“It should be made clear that in the looming shadow of a decade of austerity, these two issues need to be treated with equal urgency and not forced to compete for resources.

“This is why we are calling on City Hall to assess the costs involved in meeting these challenges and once again for the Government to finally properly fund building fire safety costs for social sector housing providers.”

The full text of the motion is:

“This Assembly notes:

• The GLA has declared a climate emergency and the Government has committed to Britain becoming carbon neutral by 2050;
• Housing is a significant source of carbon emissions, but boroughs have limited Housing Revenue Account (HRA) resources to improve this; and
• The Government has provided £400m to deal with social sector ACM cladding, but the costs of fire safety remediation works for London boroughs could rise to £1 billion, while the G15 housing associations has estimated their remediation costs at £4.6 billion.

This Assembly believes: Decarbonising homes is an urgent priority;

• Fire safety failings are a risk to life across the housing estate in London, which we must not delay in addressing; and
• These two priorities should be treated with equal urgency, not forced to compete for resources.

This Assembly resolves to:

• Ask the Mayor to work with London Councils to estimate of the costs to social sector housing providers of remediating their fire safety risks;
• Ask the GLA environment unit to assess the impact on decarbonisation targets of social sector housing providers using their HRAs to fund fire safety work; and
• Ask the Mayor to write to ministers calling on them to fund building fire safety costs for social sector housing providers.”