My Lords, there are 70 amendments in this group, but, on a positive note, they are all seeking to protect leaseholders. We have been very fortunate in having such a clear exposition of the issues which remain from the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, who has demonstrated that there is still a gap in what the Government have set out. Who pays when there is literally no one left to pay? This relates to the orphan buildings, as the noble Lord has described them. That must be resolved. The noble Earl, Lord Lytton, has just shared his expertise on the matter. I admit that I have not quite understood every part of what he said, except that I know that it is based on knowledge and experience. I am very grateful to him for sharing it with the rest of the House and trying to find solutions to the problems which remain.
I have my name on four amendments. I will speak particularly to two of these which are, in a rather more straightforward way, seeking to achieve the same ends.
Amendment 200, in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Stunell, presents another way by which leaseholders will be protected from any payment which results from the approach which the Government are taking—and which we will discuss in group 7—regarding who pays and how much leaseholders should be expected to pay. It also helps to solve the problem outlined particularly by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, about what happens to these orphan buildings when the waterfall runs out of people to fall on. I have suggested in Amendment 200 that we establish a leaseholder protection fund. I do so because, as noble Lords across the House know, there is an absolute determination on the part of all noble Lords who have spoken so far that, whatever else happens, the leaseholders will not, and should not, be the ones who pick up the bill for the errors of others—errors which are sometimes deliberate.
Amendment 200 takes a slice of the building safety fund which the developers are providing, and it establishes a fund for leaseholders who are left carrying the can, either through the orphan building situation—as described by the two previous speakers—or if the cap which we will discuss in group 7 remains. In both cases, it achieves the same end: there is a fund to which leaseholders can apply for funding to offset the bills they are presented with for work for which they have no responsibility and should never be asked to pay. This is the aim of Amendment 200, and I hope that one of the other amendments deals with this because, as far as I am concerned, this is a backstop. I assume that one of the other amendments will get the majority support of your Lordships’ House, and I will therefore not press this particular amendment.
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Amendment 221, in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Stunell, captures our concerns that, despite the best endeavours of the Government—I recognise and welcome the considerable, positive change in their approach—there is a problem that needs to be addressed. The noble Lord, Lord Young of Cookham, has explained what may happen. We have already read in the mainstream press but also in publications to do with housing such as Inside Housing that developers are already turning to law to challenge the Government’s approach. The amendment would take as a starting point the dateline of 24 February—when the Government changed their course and became much more positive and constructive in trying to prevent leaseholders paying—and give developers, constructors, material manufacturers and all those involved in this mess five years, and say to them, “You’ve got five years to put right the wrongs that you created.”
Five years is a very generous period in my view, because these folk have been living in a situation since 2017, after the dreadful Grenfell tragedy, where their homes are of no value, where they are fearful of the risks of fire, and where they know that there is huge remediation to be done and are very concerned about when and how it will be done and what happens. We have all seen it reported where a block of flats—I think it was in Salford—had the cladding removed and sheeting put up over Christmas, and it was still there. In all the storms we had post Christmas, those
poor folk were in those buildings with that sort of protection. That is not acceptable. If we can do something about it, then we should, and this is an opportunity.
The purpose of Amendment 221 is to say, “Right, you developers, you’re responsible. You’ve already had nearly five years to get your act together and have failed. We are going to give you another five. Get the work done. If you don’t, we are going to resort to this amazing provision, which the Government have put into the Bill, which says, ‘If developers don’t pay up’”—and I am saying, if the developers do not do the work—“‘then there will be no planning consents able to be implemented.’” That is very draconian, but the Minister explained in Committee that the Government were so insistent that this work be done that that clause is there, and they will implement it. It would be an additional use of that clause to force action by those who have put leaseholders and tenants into this dreadful situation.
I have explained the amendment. I feel very strongly about it, and so do my colleagues on these Benches. If the Minister fails to say, “Yes, that’s great: we’ll attach your amendment to the necessary clause”, I will test the opinion of the House, because we have to try to protect leaseholders from another decade or more of living in homes that have no value.
I want briefly to mention Amendments 231 and 232, to which I have added my name. Amendment 231 is tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hayman of Ullock, and is about social landlords not using the income from rents or service charges to rectify defects. It is wholly admirable, and it has our support.
Amendment 232 is a “Let’s find out what’s going on here” type of amendment—a probing amendment is what we like to call it. Again, because we have so many new amendments from the Government, it was not entirely clear to me and my noble friend Lord Stunell that the increase in the service charges or ground rents could be a way of disguising increases that the leaseholders have to pay in order to pay for fire safety defects. I hope that the Minister will be able to tell us that that is covered in one of his many amendments. With those few words, I look forward to others speaking and the Minister’s reply.