MPs Defeat Bid To Save Leaseholders From Huge Fire Safety Bills

 Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders living in unsellable and potentially dangerous high-rise homes could be left with fire safety bills of up to £100,000 each after MPs voted against a proposal to protect them from the crippling costs. Amendments intended to stop building owners passing on the costs of fixing defects were defeated in a Commons vote, after being submitted by the House of Lords. It was backed by Labour, but failed to attract sufficient Tory rebels to pass, and was defeated 322 to 253. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/22/mps-defeat-bid-to-save-leaseholders-from-huge-fire-safety-bills

Commons Defeat Leaves Flat Owners Facing Huge Bills To Fix Cladding

A plan to protect leaseholders from the spiralling costs of fixing fire safety problems in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster has been rejected in parliament after the government headed off a cross-party challenge. Hundreds of thousands of homeowners are facing bills of up to £100,000 to repair dangerous cladding, fire doors and insulation systems, but ministers opposed proposals from the House of Lords, Labour and some Conservative backbenchers to protect them from costs. Amendments to the fire safety bill were defeated in a Commons vote after Labour accused the government of moving “at a snail’s pace” to tackle the problem. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/feb/24/commons-defeat-leaves-flat-owners-facing-huge-bills-to-fix-cladding 

Tory Local Government Leader Asks Lords To Block Housing Reforms

The Conservative leader in local government is urging peers to vote against the government on a number of key amendments to the housing bill amid fears it could force more people into homelessness. Cllr David Hodge – leader of the Tories at the Local Government Association (LGA) – warns that elements of the bill being debated in the Lords could have the “unintended consequence of increasing homelessness and pushing more families into the more expensive private rented sector”. Hodge has teamed up with his Labour and Liberal Democrat counterparts to ask members of the House of Lords to try to block legislation that would force councils to sell their most expensive properties in order to fund the government’s Right to Buy policy. Read more on the Guardian website.

Tenants To Vote On Plans To Transfer Housing Stock

Steps to transfer Hammermsith and Fulham housing stock to a new housing organisation have taken a step forward after gaining council backing. A Cabinet meeting voted to back the recommendation of the Independent Residents’ Commission on Council Housing , which was published last month.

H&F will now give a vote on whether or not to pass the ownership of all of its 17,000 homes to council housing residents. The findings of the report suggested the council may struggle to raise the money needed to adequately repair and maintain council homes, whereas a new resident-led housing association should be able to secure the investment needed. However, a transfer will not take place unless a majority of tenants vote in favour of the transfer. Read more on the H&F website.

Revealed: Right To Buy Deal Results

It has been revealed that 86% of NHF members voted in support of the deal, representing 93% of the sector's total rented homes. Deal in numbers;

·         Members representing 93% of all housing association rented homes supported a voluntary offer

·         Members representing 5% of all housing association rented homes said ‘no’ to making a voluntary offer

·         Members representing 3% of all housing association rented homes abstained or did not respond

·         Of all members, 55% said yes, 6% said no and 39% of our members abstained or did not respond to the proposal

·         Of all 584 members, 370 responded to the survey (subsidiaries are included as groups)

Read more on 24dash.

Bedroom Tax Commons Vote To Be Forced Through

Labour aims to make Nick Clegg put government money where his mouth is and scrap the Bedroom Tax. Ed Miliband plans to force a Commons vote in the autumn on abolishing the hated charge. Last week the Liberal Democrats called for a major overhaul of the levy they had previously supported . A Labour motion for abolition after the 2013 summer recess was defeated by 252 to 226 votes because of coalition support. But if the Deputy PM now gets his MPs to vote with Labour – the housing benefit cut would have to be abolished. Read more on the Sunday People website.