Key Facts

• The Government proposes a review within one year of the Act passing.
• The review shall assess the impact on insurance availability and cost for residential blocks and professional indemnity insurance for building safety workers.
• It also considers wider impacts on the UK insurance market.
• Some estimates suggest up to 1.3 million flats are affected by building safety issues.
• The Bank of England is assessing potential impacts on mortgage providers and their ability to cope with the crisis.
• Mortgage lenders continue to require EWS1 surveys despite government interventions, impacting property market activity.
• The Building Works Agency will be established within six months after the Act's passage.
• The agency will oversee cladding remediation and other safety works in buildings over two storeys.
• Local authorities are currently responsible for enforcement but face challenges with funding and delays.
• The hon. Member for Weaver Vale wishes to withdraw the clause.
• No new actions or policy changes are proposed.
• New Clause 15 aims to mandate a review by the Secretary of State within one year after the Act's passage.
• The review must assess the implementation and costs associated with waking watches and other interim fire safety measures since June 2017.
• Research shows that insurance premiums for buildings awaiting remediation have increased up to 1,200%.
• Reports found staff joking about having nothing better to do than watch Netflix.
• A report by Which? in 2020 highlighted similar concerns about sleeping on duty.
• There are no basic standards for waking watch contracts, including personnel numbers or skill levels.
• The Waking Watch Fund has not yet disbursed any money despite being announced with £30 million.
• An estimated 1,000 buildings nationally require waking watches, with nearly 600 in London alone.
• Clause 16 would require monthly reports from the Secretary of State on the progress of cladding remediation.
• Reports must cover social residential buildings, private sector residential buildings, student accommodation, hotels, hospitals, care homes, publicly owned buildings.
• Data collected includes numbers of waking watches, interim safety measures, fire alarms installed in buildings awaiting remediation.
• The Government publishes monthly data on ACM remediation progress.
• Additional data is released covering the funding status of the Building Safety Fund for 3,175 buildings.
• Monthly data on waking watch relief fund progress is also published separately.
• The new clause would enable leaseholders to carry out urgent building safety work if freeholders cannot be contacted.
• There is a concern over defining what constitutes urgent building safety work.
• A 90-day notice period is proposed but its effectiveness is questioned.
• One in ten affordable homes planned by housing associations will no longer be built due to building safety costs.
• Social rent homes would be hardest hit due to funding constraints.
• Housing associations have stated it would cost £10 billion over the next decade to make all homes safe from fire risk.
• 61 housing associations surveyed said they would divert £730 million away from routine maintenance.
• The Secretary of State must carry out a review assessing building safety issues' impact on leaseholders in shared ownership leases.
• The review will examine costs incurred for remediation, mortgage finance access, and mental health impacts.
• A report setting out conclusions must be laid before each House of Parliament within three months after the Act's passage.
• Government is committed to providing grant funding for replacing unsafe cladding in residential buildings over 18 metres.
• Buildings under 18 metres face lower fire risks, and costly remediation work is usually not needed.
• New model of shared ownership reduces minimum initial share required to purchase to 10%, down from 25%.
• £8 billion of strategic partnership funding has been successfully allocated for the new affordable homes programme.
• A public consultation on combustible materials was announced in June 2018 and closed five months later.
• The consultation received 850 responses.
• The Government has amended building regulations to ban combustible materials on external walls of new buildings over 18 metres containing dwellings or new hospitals, residential care premises, dormitories in boarding schools and student accommodation over 18 metres in height.
• A review of Government support for building safety matters must be conducted within three months of the Act being passed.
• Recent Government statistics show that 600 buildings had remediation costs of £2.5 billion.
• Fees charged by managing agents and project managers can take up to 14% of total building remediation costs, with one case in Manchester reaching over half a million pounds out of £4 million total cost.
• Clause 139 provides the Secretary of State discretion to specify matters for review including an assessment of the performance of the building safety fund and fee mechanisms.
• Clause 1 acts as an overview of the Building Safety Bill's structure.
• The statement includes thanks from Maria Miller to various parties involved in the bill's progress.
• Clause 1 was put to a vote and agreed upon.