Cladding victims concern ‘no finish in sight’ as landlords face jail for failing to behave

Building owners failing to remove dangerous cladding have been put on notice as a minister warned they could face jail.

Building safety minister Alex Norris made the comments as the government announced a 2029 deadline to have dangerous cladding fixed. He warned those who fail to comply “will feel the force of the law”.

Over seven years after Grenfell Tower tragedy, hundreds of thousands of residents have been left in the dark over when their buildings will be made safe. And cladding victims today expressed scepticism that the Government would meet its goals.

Under the plans, all buildings over over 59ft (18m) tall with unsafe cladding that are on a Government-funded scheme will have been remediated. Those under 36ft (11m) tall will either have to be fixed or have a date for completion, with landlords liable for tough penalties for failing to comply.

Mr Norris told Sky News: “I would want people who own buildings that are watching this, who have not been remediating them, to know we are on them, we are after them, and we want those buildings remediated.

“And if they don’t, they will feel the force of the law. We have a range of powers already, ranging from fines to prison sentences, that can be used in health and safety cases.

“We will use that basket of tools in whatever way with each building to get it resolved. We have committed that that will be the case by the end of this decade.”

Keir Starmer added on X: “I promised that we would speed up the process to fix unsafe cladding, and I meant it. Today we set out new targets for those responsible to make sure their properties are safe. This government is delivering change.”

But the End Our Cladding Scandal group, which represents leaseholders affected by unsafe buildings, said they are “still far from a comprehensive solution” on building safety. The group said: “Labour’s Remediation Acceleration Plan is extremely disappointing. These proposals will only make a horribly complicated process worse with further layers of bureaucracy.

“The Government may be patting itself on the back by announcing a target date for all high-rise buildings in government-funded schemes to have been remediated. However, the Building Safety Fund first opened for registrations in June 2020, so a target date of nine years from then is underwhelming.”

Emma O’Connor, a Grenfell survivor, told The Mirror that she doesn’t believe the Government will ensure buildings are safe by 2029. She said: “It’s not going fast enough and in my opinion why are the still only focusing on 18 and 11 metres.

“All cladding that’s deemed flammable is a fire risk and should be deemed a risk to life. I think they are just trying to say what they think will go down well with survivors.”

Malcolm Cameron-Lee, 60, a former electrician and electrical engineer, has also been left bankrupt by the scandal after buying nine flats in a block in Salford in 2008. He said: “At 60, I have lost income from the flats, I have now lost my pension because they were my pension and we’ll probably lose our own home.

“My wife and I are just going through the battle of whether we lose our own home, because we’re joint owners of our own home, a two bedroom flat, so they’ll look to take my share of this place. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive for what they’ve done for this. It’s massively stressful having lost everything. Just seeing everything go.”

And Sarah Wallbridge from Bristol, who lives in a building with 19 flats under the 11 metre height, told The Mirror: “I just feel really disappointed. Feels like there’s no end in sight.”

“There’s people who have had a buyer and they’re about to exchange and they pull out. It’s been so slow up until now, feels like just a bit of an arbitrary date so it seems like things are getting done but no, I don’t have much confidence that will happen by then.”

The 38-year-old added: “But it just feels like pockets of people are being left behind, myself included in under 11 metre buildings.”