Foundational problems

“How has it come to this?” This has been what my fellow new MPs and I have frequently asked since the general election as we survey the wreckage of 14 years of failed Tory government. The list of broken promises and squandered potential is long and will already be familiar to Fabian Review readers up and down the country. But seldom has this question seemed so urgent and pressing as when applied and fire safety scandal.

It’s been nearly eight years since that terrible night in June 2017 when a fire tore through Grenfell Tower due to unsafe flammable cladding and claimed at least 72 lives. It seems scarcely believable that, after all this time, so much vital safety work hasn’t even begun. How can it be that thousands still live in fear of another cladding fire?

This is a problem that I know only too well. My constituency of Southampton Itchen has one of the highest number of high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding in Hampshire. Shockingly, remediation work has started at barely a third of these properties. My casework inbox and surgeries are full of heartbreaking stories from residents, including from leaseholders who cannot sell because banks will not offer mortgages on their properties. Those in this unenviable position tell me they feel like prisoners, trapped in homes where they do not feel safe. When, shortly after the election, I organised a meeting for constituents who had been affected by cladding, our large meeting room was completely filled by more than 60 constituents, each with their own story of stress and uncertainty stretching back months and years. Enough is enough. My constituents – and others across the country – have lived with this nightmare for too long.

Finally, there is some light at the end of this very long tunnel. The government’s strengthened Remediation Acceleration Plan should help to overcome the most serious barriers that have slowed down the process to a snail’s pace. More stringent target dates for making buildings safe and tougher penalties for developers and landlords who do not meet their obligations are long overdue. But this is far from the end of the story

When I met with the housing minster Alex Norris last year, I suggested several policy priorities that have emerged from, and been shaped by, the many conversations I’ve had with those affected. Some of these focused specifically on cladding and fire safety – for example, further work to support leaseholders living in developments below the 11-metre threshold required to secure funding from the Cladding Safety Scheme. But others spoke to the increasingly common opinion among my constituents that our archaic and centuries-old leasehold system is no longer fit for purpose. With so many leaseholders suffering delays to remediation and other fire safety works due to unfair and unreasonable practices from managing agents and landlords, it is little wonder that so many of my constituents felt it was high time for more radical change. So I am pleased that the government has now pledged to end the leasehold system – and it may be this which turns out to be the key to making our housing stock safe.

What about the homes of the future? The Labour government has rightly pledged to get Britain building again and finally deliver the new homes that are so desperately needed. But surely one of the lessons from this long-running crisis is that speed and cost-cutting cannot be at the expense of safety. This is why my constituents have supported my call for measures to ensure the long-term quality and standards of future housing developments.

Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that promising change is enough. Too many long-suffering constituents – especially leaseholders, who bought their homes in good faith – tell me that they’ve heard these promises before. While this scepticism is understandable, the onus is now on all of us across Westminster and beyond to show that actions speak louder than words. Developers and managing agents must get their act together, and it must be a matter of principle that leaseholders are not left out of pocket. For those of us who are privileged enough to be in parliament or otherwise in a position of influence, there is no excuse not to deliver this time. Let’s get to work.

Image credit: Image George Rex via flickr