Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, is set to bow to pressure and abandon plans to force apartment blocks more than seven storeys high to have a safety manager.
The Daily Telegraph reports that campaigners appear to have convinced that the extra costs involved would be too onerous for property owners. The administrative role would cost about £60,000 per building a year, according to government impact assessments.
We will welcome amendments at the report stage of the BSB
Our asks include:
Scrap the Building Safety Manager
Help for buildings under 11m
Help for BTL leaseholders, many of whom are small investors @team_greenhalgh @michaelgove #BuildingSafetyCrisis https://t.co/iC0ySKMu06
— End Our Cladding Scandal (@EOCS_Official) March 15, 2022
A number of web pages that mentioned the proposed policy on safety managers have recently been removed from government websites, according to cladding campaigners.
The fire safety minister, Lord Greenhalgh, has previously voiced concerns that the policy could impose unnecessary costs on leaseholders.
Reform of the rules on cladding on apartment blocks has been high on the government’s agenda since the Grenfell Tower tragedy of 2017 but there has been a lot of wrangling over who should fit the bill for remediation.
???? NEW REPORT ????
We surveyed housing association leaseholders trapped in the building safety crisis.
Our research shows they have been badly let down.
Urgent action is required.
Download the report ➡️ https://t.co/DOwwG7X8Wk#EndOurCladdingScandal #UKhousing pic.twitter.com/Z0nTdFkYCx
— End Our Cladding Scandal (@EOCS_Official) February 20, 2022
Meanwhile, The Guardian newspaper reports that permission to grant a 51-storey skyscraper with just a single fire escape is expected to be granted by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets this week.
The Cuba Street tower, which will be built close to Canary Wharf, will have 655 bedrooms, with the highest close to 170 metres in the air, which The Guardian pointedly observed is two-and-a-half times the height of Grenfell Tower.
Adding a second fire escape would allow firefighters to enter the building using one access route while residents exit via the other but would eat into the profits of the developer.
Reports of Gove’s willingness to climb down on the building administrators issue does not seem to have had much effect on the share price of the housebuilders today; Barratt Developments PLC (LSE:BDEV) and Berkeley Group Holdings PLC (LSE:BKG) are both down 1.5%; Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) is off 1.4% and Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.) is 1.7% weaker.