Directors at residential property management firm MetroPM have welcomed a government decision to extend the deadline for applications to the Building Safety Fund for 31 December 2020 to 30 June 2021.
Similarly, the deadline for a start on site for remedial works has been extended from 31 March 2021 to 30 September 2021.
MetroPM director Ian Smallman said: “The Building Safety Fund is intended to meet the costs of remediating cladding systems which do not adequately resist the spread of fire.
“It requires all buildings undergoing cladding remediation funded by the scheme to be brought up to current building regulations.”
The Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government has also announced a new £30 million fund to incentivise building owners to install fire alarms in high rise buildings awaiting remediation and where there is currently a walking watch service. This fund opens in January 2021.
Mr Smallman said: “The sheer volume and complexity of claims to be made, the availability of contractors able to carry out such work and many other factors have all combined to make the original deadlines almost impossible to meet.
“We welcome both the extension to deadlines and also the increased funding which will help alleviate the financial burden on leaseholders.”
In the March 2020 Budget, the government announced it would provide £1 billion in 2020 to 2021 to support the remediation of unsafe non-aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding systems on residential buildings of 18 metres and over in both the private and social housing sectors. ACM was the material used on Grenfell Tower.
By October 2020, nearly 2,800 buildings had been registered for the Building Safety Fund, well over the original 1,700 buildings estimate that had been previously used.
Mr Smallman said: “This is another step along a long and complicated path to dealing with what is a very complex issue and we welcome the progress being made.”
MetroPM is one of the leading national block management companies with offices in Birmingham and Cheltenham.
