Litigation lawyer affected by cladding issues. Sometime photographer. Views are personal. Tweets are tweets and not legal advice.
London, England
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Update on freeholders’ judicial review against the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
The hear by date has been extended to 23 April 2027. This means the hearing has not yet been listed, but is likely to take place before 23 April 2027.
More details here: leaseholdknowledge.com/court…
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#bbcqt excusing Boris Johnson’s behaviour on the basis it gets things done is the same excuse dictators have used throughout history. Be wary of anyone who says ethics are a barrier to progress.
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This from @newsnight and @lewis_goodall is a watershed moment. For the past 4 years the blameless have suffered while the government has failed to deal with the culpable. The human cost of that injustice is now clear to see. The government must act to #endourcladdingscandal
“What sort of government do we have leaving a pensioner to go back to work to fix the mistakes of others?”
Leaseholder @LiamSpender, speaking on behalf of @ukcag, says the building safety crisis “is a problem made in Whitehall” that “needs to be fixed in Whitehall”
#Newsnight
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Very sorry to see @michaelgove sacked. He worked harder than any of his predecessors to try and #endourcladdingscandal. The solution isn’t perfect but was a step change on what was offered before. Now he’s gone the risk is that there’ll be no heavyweight to see things through.
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#FireSafetyBill I would like to thank the many people who've left kind comments and thank you messages in response to the live tweeting over the past few days.
I am happy to have done my bit to help and am touched it was read by, and useful to, so many people.
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The wheels are coming off the government’s repeated attempt to “PR” its way out of this. The issues are real. The bills are starting to become real. Flats will not sell on the back of those bills. Reality will not match the government’s rhetoric. #NotJustCladding #WeAreTrapped
@TheSundayTimes reports misleading and inaccurate info on the progress to remediate unsafe buildings. Our priority is making sure residents are safe by removing dangerous cladding from the highest risk buildings as quickly as possible. Our response:
mhclgmedia.blog.gov.uk/2021/…
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#bbcqt It is a national disgrace that in the 4 years since Grenfell we still have no fix for this issue. It comes down to choice. A political choice by the government not to act to protect its citizens but instead to protect corporate interests.
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1/6 Using MHCLG’s own estimates there are 8,000 >18 m buildings with cladding requiring an EWS1. Multiply that by the £2.2 million average full BSF funding per building awarded to date (£241.5m/106) gives an estimated cost of £18.23 billion. #EndOurCladdingScandal
[1/2] There have been recent reports suggesting that our £5 billion investment in remediating unsafe buildings will only cover 10% of the total cost. This figure is unsubstantiated and the reports are unreliable and unhelpful.
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#bbcqt #EndOurCladdingScandal is not a difficult problem to solve. It’s already been solved in Australia. The government chooses not to solve it here.
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Great success today at the #LeaseholdersTogether rally in Parliament Square. Honoured to meet so many leaseholders and hear their stories. Here are some pictures from the day, including with @SMcPartland -many thanks for all your support of leaseholders.
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After yesterday’s announcement, Fire Safety Bill is returning to the Commons on 24 February to consider McPartland-Smith and other amendments. Let’s see if MPs are prepared to put their money where their mouths are on leaseholders not paying @LKPleasehold @ukcag #WeWontTakeLoans
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1/4 Hello @BerkeleyGroupUK. Just to let you know I nearly fell through one of your floors this morning.
The floor you built 20 years ago has no batons holding it up. There's only air between the floor boards and the room underneath.
So much for "Designed for Life".
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6/6 So before taking us all for mugs and treating people’s homes like the object of a correspondence school marketing exercise, perhaps you’d care to look at your own (woefully inadequate) data before hurling bricks through that glass roof?
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Government Advice Notes implied buildings unsafe & must have cladding removed. Gov’t then stood by whilst insurers and a cottage industry of managing agents & “façade experts” imposed expensive works. Problems made in Whitehall must be solved in Whitehall #EndOurCladdingScandal
"Unnecessary anxiety" is how Boris Johnson described cladding scandal victim Jenny Garrett's concerns, says Labour MP Paul Blomfield, "so will he meet her?"
"I sympathise deeply," says the PM, "but these homes are not unsafe"
#PMQs bbc.in/2ZMplGN
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I am joining this protest (my first ever) tomorrow at 2 p.m. tomorrow, 8 May. If you’re near the Isle of Dogs please come along and join us.
Enough is enough. Come and join us on the Isle of Dogs at 2pm tomorrow to call on government to protect innocent leaseholders from ruinous post-Grenfell remediation bills. @ApsanaBegumMP @rushanaraali @going4golds @Andrewwood17 @EOCS_Official @ukcag @LKPleasehold @NLC_2019
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1/7 A Tale of Two Scandals. Today the government has announced it will change the law to refund investors who lost money in the London & Capital Finance mini bond scheme. Why? Because the government accepts the FCA failed to regulate the firm properly. #EndOurCladdingScandal
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Petition: Ban developers starting new work until their EWS1 failing buildings are fixed petition.parliament.uk/petit…
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I wonder how much Kingspan are paying as part of this deal? If they can pay for F1 sponsorship then they can pay a tax to help foot the bill to #EndOurCladdingScandal
Glad to have you onboard, Kingspan! 👊 Welcome to the Team! 👏
An exciting partnership, starting for these final two races of the 2021 season 🙏
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1/2 #BuildingSafetyBill Two Conservative MPs have now asked questions along the lines of why should their taxpaying constituents pay for cladding.
Because it's a failure of the state. The state failed to regulate, then moved the goalposts.
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Of this £71,552 remediation bill, £14,310.40 will be 20% VAT. Of the £57,241.60 remainder, as much as 15% (£8,586.24) may be a project management fee. £23k VAT and fees before works start. It’s #NotJustCladding, it’s that Leaseholders have no protection here @ukcag @LKPleasehold
The McPartland/Smith amendment to the #FireSafetyBill will return to the Commons on Monday. Before MPs vote I simply ask them this. Please imagine how you would feel if this bill dropped through your letter box. #EndOurCladdingScandal @EOCS_Official @ukcag
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Thanks to @PhilWilliams and team at @TimesRadio for the interview. How can it be right that the best case from today is leaseholders are paying 54%, taxpayers 33% and developers 13% for something 100% the fault of developers? #WeWontTakeLoans @LKPleasehold @ukcag @MilesDilworth
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1/6 #FireSafetyBill 2 amendments tabled today in the Lords. One by @BishopStAlbans and one by Earl of Lytton. Both aim to spare leaseholders from any costs arising under the Fire Safety Order as amended by the Fire Safety Bill. See: bit.ly/3mPpf8h #EndOurCladdingScandal
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1/7 #forcedloans Horrified to see Homes England advertising for an 18 month fixed term employee to oversee development of loans for 11-18 metre buildings (advert here: homesenglandcareers.co.uk/se…)
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3/3 The government has now broken its promise that it would protect leaseholders from costs, affordable or otherwise.
The government made a choice to break its promises.
The government owns the consequences that flow from that choice.
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#FireSafetyBill will be back in Commons on Tuesday, 27 April. No time yet as only just announced in Commons Business Statement. Commons will decide whether to accept @BishopStAlbans amendment. Gov’t will most likely try to get the amendment thrown out. #EndOurCladdingScandal
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1/3 #Budget2021 #EndOurCladdingScandal The £5.1 billion re-re-reannounced today is actually only a net contribution of £600 million from taxpayers. If costs are £15 billion, once you factor in £2.5 billion in VAT and £2 billion from developers, that leaves £600 million.
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Rishi says that individuals should take responsibility for their own lives. The government is dumping £10 billion of costs (minimum) on cladding leaseholders. Why does Rishi expect citizens to take responsibility when the government is shirking its responsibilities on this?
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1/10 #EndOurCladdingScandal and #leaseholdreform will both feature in the House of Lords this afternoon.
At around 1 p.m. @BishopStAlbans will be asking what steps the government has taken to identify the number of leaseholders at risk of bankruptcy.
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FT Article (£) (on.ft.com/3cC9tKC) on cladding and how "everyone just seems to absolve everyone else" Which is why we need an industry levy for the full cost as @LKPleasehold has proposed, not limited to 13% of the bill as government proposes #EndOurCladdingScandal
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A woefully inadequate response to @mtpennycook’s #PMQs question today.
The government is *not* supporting “all those who have to remediate their buildings”.
The #BuildingSafetyBill does not provide any meaningful “advice and the support” that the leaseholders affected need.
Contrary to the promises made by Ministers, the #BuildingSafetyBill does little to help those facing huge remediation bills.
The Government must legislate to protect all leaseholders from the costs of fixing historic fire safety defects.
#PMQs #EndOurCladdingScandal
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1/4 #EndOurCladdingScandal @Barrattplc reports this morning that it will pay a £76.3 million dividend for the half year (bit.ly/2R1Hls2). That is nearly half the £200 million a year the government proposed to raise from its new Developer Levy. Half. From one developer.
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7/7 When the government wants to do something for people wronged by incompetent regulators and greedy, unscrupulous institutions it can. Including changing the law to help. So why can it not do the same for leaseholders with the #FireSafetyBill tomorrow? Same issue. Same solution
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#bbcqt Let’s not forget developers stand to collect a total of around £30 billion of taxpayer subsidies via Help to Buy. Why corporate welfare for them but nothing for leaseholders? #endourcladdingscandal
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4/4 I'm going to get the bill for fixing your mess on cladding.
The broken floor is literally a step too far.
I'll be sending the bill for the floor and the cladding (when it comes) marked for the attention of your CEO and Chairman.
Looking forward to your reply.
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13/13 The gov't can still choose to act in precisely the same way that Mrs Thatcher's gov't acted to protect house buyers who were victims of botched construction in the 50's and 60's.
It wasn't difficult then. It isn't difficult now.
#EnoughIsEnough #EndOurCladdingScandal
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He’s right. Three simple steps is all it would take. All it needs is for the government to choose this approach, instead of its current approach of commanding pigs to fly.
My advice to the Prime Minister: find the funding to make these buildings safe, make them saleable, then chase those who are actually responsible.
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So, the taxpayer can bail out CF Industries for failing to hedge its gas supply and then the government will intervene to force CF's customers to pay a higher price for for CO2, but the government can't do anything about builders etc. and their cladding? bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58876139
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5/6 After you’ve done that, please explain why you *still* have not completed a national survey of affected buildings, 4 years after Grenfell. In fact, contrary to your second tweet, you’re not doing that survey at all. You’ve dumped it on everyone else via EWS-1.
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#EndOurCladdingScandal starting to sound similar to banking in 2007. If people cannot sell these properties and/or are forced by the government to pay ruinous repair bills that will inevitably affect bank and building society asset values.
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6/6 Last but not least, the changes today, imperfect as they are, would not have come without a lot of hard work from many campaigners, politicians and media.
I pay tribute to @EOCS_Official, @ukcag @LKPleasehold, @NLC_2019 and all the many others for their work on this issue.
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For #InternationalWomensDay2022 I would like to acknowledge @ritustweets for her tireless work over the last 5 years to #endourcladdingscandal.
Thank you, Ritu.
Thank you also to the many other leaseholders who are working tirelessly on this issue.
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1/3 This is what happens when politicians let ideology trump facts.
The state must accept responsibility for its own failings before it can expect citizens to take responsibility for their lives.
Big or small, the point of a state is to protect the people.
"I fought this battle for a couple of years," says former housing secretary Robert Jenrick on who pays to change cladding, "the Treasury... is simply not willing to do that"
Thousands of flat owners are facing large bills to change cladding
bbc.in/3Gxo8Dy #PoliticsLive
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1/3 #FireSafetyBill we are all tired, angry and disappointed at what happened this evening. I certainly am.
I will write a "what's next" with some FAQs in the morning, but here are some off-the-cuff thoughts for now.
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1/13 #EndOurCladdingScandal
Commons today debated housing parts of the Queen's Speech.
Gov't defeated Labour's motion to set a deadline of June 2022 to remove all cladding by majority of 138 (358-220).
Vote as expected, but there were some encouraging signs, discussed below.
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Another sad story. And this from a building apparently eligible for BSF. No amount of money is worth anyone feeling this way. It underlines the need to #EndOurCladdingScandal and to get grants from the BSF moving quickly to help people trapped in terrible circumstances.
Thank you @HydeHousing for a new bill of now almost £45,000
Please retweet to gain exposure again.
I feel like killing myself
@LiamSpender @lewis_goodall @ritustweets @PeteApps @stephpike_ @rachaelvenables @ukcag @EOCS_Official @claddingscanda1 @CarolinePidgeon @CarolineLucas
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The managing agents’ refusal to sign is more to do with protecting their own commercial interests than those of leaseholders. This fundamental conflict of interest is played out everyday in leasehold, underlining the need for both leasehold reform and to #EndOurCladdingScandal
📺 Watch @BBCNews NOW to learn more about this report on the #BuildingSafetyFund 👇
#EndOurCladdingScandal
#BuildingSafetyCrisis
#NotJustCladding
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Congratulations to @michaelgove.
Let us hope he will be allowed to finish what he started on building safety, leasehold insurance and phase 2 leasehold reform.
There is much to be done.
#EndOurCladdingScandal
The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP @MichaelGove has been appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations @LUHC.
#Reshuffle
ALT The Rt Hon Michael Gove MP appointed Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Minister for Intergovernmental Relations.
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Interesting Sunday Times article briefed by gov’t sources to traditional Tory supporting newspaper. bit.ly/2XwwREd. But what does solved mean? More inadequate expert advice? Forced loans? We need better than that. #EndOurCladdingScandal
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Pleasure speaking to @NickFerrariLBC just now on cladding and woeful £5bn to #EndOurCladdingScandal. We need urgent action on fees/insurance commissions. We also need a developer levy (see LKP idea here: bit.ly/3jpzSgt) @lkpleasehold @ukcag @EOCS_Official
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1/11 Why still £30 billion if gov’t figures show average ground rent of £278 and there is a 20 year transitional period of £250 to peppercorn?
£30 billion was the figure for immediate conversion to peppercorn.
Questionable maths.
Exclusive: Pension funds believe Michael Gove’s proposed reforms of Britain’s “feudal” leasehold system will cost them in the region of £30bn if he proceeds next week with a £250 cap on ground rents and 20-year transition to peppercorn rates. news.sky.com/story/pension-f…
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Thank you to @LBC and @eddiemair and @rachaelvenables and their team for the chance to speak earlier this evening. I hope the government can go from being very badly wrong on this issue to being completely right. Only needs to follow Australia’s lead #EndOurCladdingScandal
"The Government has got this very badly wrong": End Our Cladding Scandal's Liam Spender reacts to MPs defeating the bid to save leaseholders from huge fire safety bills.
Read more: l-bc.co/317Q2Tk
@eddiemair | #CladdingCrisis
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#bbcqt Government’s excuse that it has taken time to understand the problem is bunkum. It *still* doesn’t have basic data. It still insists on getting conflict ridden agents and surveyors to decide risk instead of conducting a national survey. It’s simply not good enough.
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12/ On cladding levy, Lord Greenhalgh says we can’t bankrupt developers. Praised recent contributions from developers. The total amount pledged by developers to date is c. £500 million. Costs estimated at £15 billion. The same developers will receive £30 billion from Help To Buy
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This is the case I was discussing on BBC Breakfast and BBC Radio 4 earlier today.
More details on the case website at leaseholderaction.com
And please follow @Leaseholderhelp for further updates.
Millions of leaseholders have been paying hidden insurance commissions. Velitor law firm, backed by Balance Legal Capital LLP, is launching a no win, no fee claim to recover these unlawful charges.
Visit leaseholderaction.com//@/SkA… to join the fight.
#LeaseholdClaim
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Outrageous isn’t a strong enough word to describe what goes on with leasehold insurance.
‘It’s just outrageous’: UK leaseholders face down landlords over insurance costs on.ft.com/3S7YOtX
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1/3 Excellent article on the leasehold insurance scam in which premiums are loaded up with hidden commissions solely for the benefit of freeholders and managing agents. It is #NotJustCladding but the fact that the leasehold system allows rentiers to treat residents with contempt.
Rendall and Rittner … no insurance commissions, but it owns an offshore ‘captive’ insurance company making a 40% profit on leaseholders’ premiums @ARMAleasehold @IRPMONLINE @TheFCA @suejbright @in_nominate leaseholdknowledge.com/renda…
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1/2 #FireSafetyBill: due to be considered in Commons around 2.30 p.m. tomorrow.
List of speakers in the debate, which is limited to 1 hour, published here: commonsbusiness.parliament.u…
Gov't will try to knock out @BishopStAlbans amendment, may offer extra help to leaseholders.
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#bbcqt We would all like to know what the government’s next steps are. We’ve been waiting 4 years. The government response remains shambolic. It has no plan.
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1/6 Today is 28 June 2022, the day the main leaseholder protections in the Building Safety Act come into force for qualifying leaseholders in buildings above 11 metres tall (or with more than 5 storeys).
This is an important day.
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1/3 #FireSafetyBill debate outcome today is that there was no vote on McPartland-Smith. The only change accepted to the Bill was an amendment requiring the government to produce risk-based guidance on applying new law. Bill goes back to the Lords, which must agree...
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It is #NotJustCladding. There is already evidence of wider effects on the housing market. We all remember the effects of the 2007-8 subprime crisis. What happens in the housing market eventually affects the wider economy. The government must act to protect residents now.
@LiamSpender and I wrote this report on the impact of the #firesafetycrisis on house prices and the affordability of remediation costs. The results were far worse than we had imagined, as cited in @thesundaytimes. @ukcag leaseholdknowledge.com/lkp-t…
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#FireSafetyBill @KathPinnock tabled an amendment today, requiring government to design a scheme to avoid passing costs caused by bill to leaseholders & instead to developers, freeholders & others (bit.ly/3cuCbeU). Lords to consider on 17 March. #NotJustCladding @ukcag
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Did you know that one of the largest resident ground rent investors - ARC Time - has paid no Corporation Tax since 2014 despite owning UK freeholds worth £180 million (at 31 March 2023)?
Every pound not paid in tax by ARC Time is an extra burden on hard-working UK taxpayers.
🤔 Did you know the government’s Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill could be amended to cost £43 billion in damages - wiping out pensions and putting a huge extra burden on hard-working UK taxpayers
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#ABIconf22 between June 2018 and June 2020 ABI member Zurich paid my landlord £135,908.41 in commission.
Another £51,183.21 went to an insurance broker.
Leaseholders were charged roughly £430 each to pay that £187,091.62 total commission.
When will this end?
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#BuildingSafetyBill
Government confirms Second Reading in Commons on Wednesday 21 July 2021. Time to be confirmed, likely to be late afternoon.
Details will be published later.
I intend to Live Tweet proceedings.
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True cost to fix cladding crisis will hit £50bn, according to Telegraph (£) (bit.ly/3xds9sm). Although the real cost is unknown because we still don’t know the number of buildings affected. Fire Safety Bill will increase the number of affected buildings. #NotJustCladding
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#FireSafetyBill Commons will consider the McPartland-Smith/St Albans amendment on Monday, 22 March 2021 @LKPleasehold @ukcag @nbdbuk @BldgSafetyReg #EndOurCladdingScandal
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3/3 Government is then going to have to hold a vote on McPartland-Smith, which based on today is likely to see a significant rebellion. Let’s see what happens in Budget next week and for further announcements from gov’t @LKPleasehold @ukcag
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The Bishop’s argument is unassailable. If leaseholders could not have foreseen the problem they cannot be expected to pay. And government inaction tells us about its moral values as much as every government action. #FireSafetyBill #NotJustCladding
What was done in our name for the bankers during the financial crisis should certainly be done for leaseholders.
The case for a common good intervention to end the #claddingscandal
dralangcsmith.medium.com/cla…
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#FireSafetyBill @BishopStAlbans has re-tabled @SMcPartland and @Royston_Smith amendment in Lords, see: bit.ly/3ssjXBh. No date yet set for Lords to consider. Onward and upward! @LKPleasehold @ukcag @NLC_2019
#firesafetybill Starting gate opens for the House of Lords to make further amendments to the Bill. Commons Reasons for disagreeing to Lords amendment yesterday published: bit.ly/2NFmF7F @LKPleasehold @ukcag
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7/7 #forcedloans will not work. They are unjust. All leaseholders in buildings of any height should be treated equally and given equal access to funding to fix all issues.
#LeaseholdersTogether #endourcladdingscandal
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3/6 Your estimate of buildings 11-18 metres with cladding requiring an EWS1 is 50,000. Assuming each costs 1/2 of a >18m building that’s £56.75 billion just on them. You may not have focussed on that because your planned #forcedloans dump that cost + interest on l-holders.
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Just announced that Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill will be considered by the House of Lords tomorrow.
So looks as if it will pass, but unsure whether in current form or with amendments on things like ground rents:
parliamentlive.tv/event/inde…
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1/3 #FireSafetyBill @LiamFox moves an amendment in the Commons. This is designed to protect leaseholders from forfeiture if they cannot pay costs under the new Fire Safety Order, or which are related to building defects. Text here: bit.ly/3dLC1ls
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#BudgetSpeech2021 Stamp Duty holiday extended to 30 June and further reduced rate to 30 September. 95% mortgage guarantee also confirmed. Without fixing cladding this is like sending more blood down a blocked artery.
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Company directors owe an inviolable duty to spend company money in a way that increases long-term shareholder value.
Directors of companies spending company money on political donations yet claiming there's nothing in it for the company is nonsense.
No link between £18m donations to party from property firms and relaxing planning laws, Conservatives say
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3/3 And as to @RishiSunak’s cri de cœur for individual responsibility, how can the state expect individuals to take responsibility when the state is willing to doge its own responsibilities?
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One point not aired in the #BuildingSafetyCrisis debate today is the amount of the £15 billion estimated cost of #claddingcrisis remedial works bound for managing agents’ pockets. Average 4% project management fee means £600 million for agents! @LKPleasehold @ukcag
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1/13 A shameful day for British democracy today.
The Commons voted 250-232 to delay considering the report on sanctioning Owen Paterson for paid advocacy (mainly failing to declare he was a paid lobbyist for food products firms when approaching gov't departments and regulators)
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2/6 While you’re thinking about that MHCLG, on Tuesday you estimated the Building Safety Bill will apply to 13,000 >18 metre buildings. Multiplying that by £2.27m per block gives £29.5 billion, or nearly 6 times what’s currently on offer.
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1/2 Using a loan amortisation calculator this morning, it seems a loan for the estimated average £40k bill at 1.5% interest compounded monthly repaid £50/month would take 320 years to repay. Doubt buildings will last that long #WeWontTakeLoans @ukcag @LKPleasehold @Lees_Martina
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4/6 You can check my maths. Your EWS1 estimates are here: bit.ly/3obvggg and the BSF stats are here: bit.ly/3eIxL6p. Of course, the funding on offer only covers cladding costs on >18m buildings and it’s #NotJustCladding is it?
Building Safety Programme: estimates of EWS1 requirements on residential buildings in England
gov.uk 1
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#bbcqt The focus on cladding has also diverted attention from how rotten leasehold is as a system. Managing agents may pocket as much as £1.5 billion in fees if the total repair bill end up anything like £15 billion #EndOurCladdingScandal
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1/14 FirstPort (or should that be LastPort?) making Bernie Madoff look small time. Again.
dailymail.co.uk/property/art…
I personally stand to pay £1,358.50, which is an inflated figure to pay FirstPort's fees and because its a crap negotiator.
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67/ And that’s it for the Lords. Bill now has to go back to the Commons. Government now in serious trouble. It will have to whip its MPs to vote against this. There is no avoiding the vote this time.
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1/17 We await the results of the Financial Conduct Authority's review into leasehold insurance.
The interim report from May 2022 (fca.org.uk/publication/corre…) suggested capped commissions and mandatory disclosure.
Will that help where brokers are boosting their profits by 43%?
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Details for today’s protest at 2 p.m. below.
#EnoughIsEnough
💢Tower Hamlets fire protest!!
💢Where to go and time
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
#EndOurCladdingScandal
#leaseholdscandal
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Shocking overview of common service charge practice among so-called professional freeholders and managing agents.
There is reference to regulating managing agents at the end of the article. That would be a step in the right direction but it depends entirely on how it is done.
'We were charged £720 to have a key cut': BBC told of leaseholders' woes bbc.in/4hWRfTB
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Developer Berkeley on track for £500 million profit this year. £280 million for shareholders, on top of £1.4 billion paid since 2016 (bit.ly/3vfUi0M). Another developer that could pay all the £200 million proposed government levy by itself #EndOurFireSafetyScandal
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1/17 Hello Lucy,
For what they are worth, my views on today's announcement are below.
The headline is that this is a welcome step in the right direction, but we must see the detail on delivery to be sure it will solve all cladding and non-cladding issues.
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1/15 A visceral image of fire at ACM-clad New Providence Wharf in London.
I hope everyone is alright and that the damage to people's homes is not extensive.
Some thoughts below on the govt's inevitable spin in response to this fire.
#NotJustCladding #EndOurCladdingScandal
🚨 20 fire engines on the scene of a fire at New Providence Wharf in East London this morning.
The building’s still covered in ACM cladding - the same type as was on Grenfell. Awaiting updates. @LBC
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14/14 The bottom line is: we need statutory control of managing agents.
People like this shouldn't have access to leaseholders' money without effective control.
We also need commonhold. If residents were in charge, this wouldn't be happening.
@LKPleasehold
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“I am clear that the correct legislative approach to dealing with issues relating to interaction between freeholder and leaseholder is the Building Safety Bill.” @team_greenhalgh to @SMcPartland 17 March 2021, data.parliament.uk/Deposited… nitter.app/natbarkerih/status/141…
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It was a pleasure to help. Please do take the time to write to your MP and seek support for the McPartland-Smith amendments, details of how to do that are here: endourcladdingscandal.org/ca…
Huge thanks to @LiamSpender and @GilesGrover for giving evidence to the committee on behalf of leaseholders 🙏
We're grateful to have you fight our corner 💪
#EndOurCladdingScandal
#BuildingSafetyBill
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#FireSafetyBill Lords votes 322-236 (88 vote majority) to add @BishopStAlbans amendment to the bill.
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Developers and the HBF are asking for another taxpayer handout after £30 billion of Help To Buy subsidy and nearly 6 years of dragging their feet on cladding.
I would ask if these people have no shame, but we all already know the answer to that.
news.sky.com/story/housebuil…
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As @martinboydlkp eloquently explained on @newsnight last night, cladding is the latest ugly symptom of the leasehold disease. We need to join the rest of the world with commonhold to make residents masters in their own house.
Really good journalism over building safety crisis from @BBCNewsnight @maitlis @lewis_goodall and the research team. Many, many thanks. Here is a review of the show: leaseholdknowledge.com/bbc2-…
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16/16 It has been a long day. I am pretty deflated. I have spent a lot of time on this since January, time I feel is largely wasted because there are still too many holes in the Bill.
I sincerely hope we see better before this law makes it to statute books.
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Isn’t this the same Bellway that’s having to fix the ones they’ve already built at the same site? Why these companies are still getting planning permission given their track record on shoddy building and ground rent is a mystery to me #EndOurCladdingScandal
We are pleased to announce that Bellway have commenced work on the next phase of new homes at Rivergate, Barking Riverside.
Bellway are developing 107 new homes, 54 of which are affordable, marking an important addition to the community. barkingriverside.london/the-…
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