Rupa Huq Hosts Cladding Crisis Roundtable
Shadow Minister joins fifty local residents to discuss the issue
Rupa Huq MP hosts virtual meeting on cladding crisis
Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq has hosted a virtual roundtable with residents on the subject the cladding crisis.
Almost 50 leaseholders from her constituency dialled in to hear from the panellists, including Sebastian O’Kelly of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and Sarah Jones MP, Labour’s Shadow Fire Service Minister. Representatives from local housing associations, including A2 Dominion, Catalyst, Notting Hill Genesis and Shepherds Bush Housing Group also took part.
Dr Huq, who last year asked the Prime Minister about the unobtainable status of the EWS1 form, a safety certification document that must accompany property sales which leaves residents trapped, said the meeting was constructive and informative.
The MP, who also serves as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on London Housing and Planning, added, “Unsafe cladding has been an incredibly active issue in the inbox lately, so I invited every constituent who has written in on the topic to take part in this discussion. Four years after the tragedy of Grenfell after everyone vowed ‘never again’ but millions are still affected by the scandal, trapped in an impossible bind taking a devastating toll on their mental health and forking out for pricey safety measures.
“There had been a partial widening of cladding funding but the Conservatives have not gone far enough: they voted against putting vital Grenfell Inquiry recommendations into law. And they voted down protections for leaseholders so they are no longer burdened with the costs of fixing problems they did not cause.”
Sarah Jones MP said, “Buildings must be made safe and residents must be protected. I am committed to doing all I can in Parliament to resolving the cladding crisis once and for all.”
A multitude of examples were heard from residents in difficult situations who thought they had moved to the home of their dreams only to find in reality the situation had fast become a nightmare,
Sebastian O’Kelly said afterwards, “I found the meeting really interesting. Good to get the views of both the housing association executives and the leaseholders, though they differ somewhat, I could not help noticing.”
The Government has said it will fund the removal and placement of unsafe cladding on buildings over 18 metres. In buildings of 11-18 metres, with a lower risk to safety, leaseholders will gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal through a financing scheme so that leaseholders will never pay more than £50 a month.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
April 8, 2021