Leaseholders Together Rally in Parliament Square (Credit: Marcus Perkins, 2021)
Six years after Grenfell, homes are still unsafe in more than 10,000 buildings across the country. The Government must finally end the building safety scandal.
The Campaign
End Our Cladding Scandal calls on the Government to deliver an urgent and comprehensive solution to the building safety crisis that was exposed by the Grenfell tragedy.
A safe home is fundamental for all of us. But hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in unsafe and unsellable flats, at risk of both fire and bankruptcy. Many leaseholders face life-changing costs to fix defects that are not their fault and soaring insurance premiums.
Affected leaseholders are fighting back and holding the Government and industry to account for decades of failure in construction standards, building regulations, and their enforcement.
This crisis goes far beyond cladding on high-rise blocks, and so must government action. Campaigners are calling for:
- All homes to be made safe as quickly as possible, prioritised in risk order
- Full financial protection for all leaseholders
- Actions to unlock the market, allowing people to move on with their lives.
Leaseholders Together Rally in Parliament Square (Credit: Marcus Perkins, 2021)
For decades, powerful voices have prioritised cutting red tape for businesses over the safety of people in their own homes – but they are no match for the phenomenal determination of affected residents across the country, who have come together to fight for justice. This award nomination honours every single ‘Cladiator’ who has campaigned alongside us. We won’t stop until homes are finally made safe and all leaseholders are financially protected.”
Giles Grover, co-lead, End Our Cladding Scandal campaign.
Leaseholders Together Rally in Parliament Square (Credit: Marcus Perkins, 2021)
This award nomination honours every single ‘Cladiator’ who has campaigned alongside us. We won’t stop until homes are finally made safe and all leaseholders are financially protected.”
Giles Grover, co-lead, End Our Cladding Scandal campaign.
The Change
A considerable shift in policy and funding was achieved in 2022, after campaigners stepped up media coverage, investor pressure, parliamentary activity, and rallies outside Westminster.
The Government held off cross-party criticism during the Building Safety Bill by bringing in hundreds of pages of last-minute amendments. These included so-called ‘leaseholder protections’, which save leaseholders in mid and high-rise flats from cladding remediation costs and cap costs for non-cladding safety defects. The Defective Premises Act was retrospectively extended and there were new options to seek Remediation Contribution Orders. Pledges were also secured from nearly 50 property developers to fix ‘life critical’ defects in buildings from the last 30 years.
However, these are still only partial successes. The pace of making homes safe remains glacial, capped costs are still unfair, many thousands of ‘non-qualifying’ leaseholders face uncapped costs and bankruptcy, and there is still no solution to make low-rise flats safe. Campaigners have much more to do to combat the impression that the crisis is solved – but momentum is on their side.
The Future
Campaigners will be pushing for the Government to step up and close the funding gap for any unsafe building where remediation work is not covered by developers or building owners.
They say that by guaranteeing that no leaseholder will pay a penny to fix a crisis they did not cause, the Government would restore confidence in the housing market and break down barriers holding people back from their full potential. Campaigners will be seeking decisive commitments from all political parties in the run up to the next General Election.
Who else was involved?
The campaign is run by volunteers who are personally affected by the building safety crisis. It is a collaboration between the UK Cladding Action Group, Manchester Cladiators, and cladding action groups that support and represent leaseholders in Birmingham, Hertfordshire, Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Sheffield, Northeast England and Wales.
Campaign partners also include Grenfell United, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, and the National Leasehold Campaign. Media partners include Inside Housing and The Sunday Times.
