New Powers to Tackle Unsafe Cladding
The Scottish Parliament hasĀ unanimously approved legislation giving Scottish Ministers powers to assess and remediate buildings which have unsafe cladding, where consent of the owners cannot be provided.
The Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Bill will allow the creation of a Cladding Assurance Register to give homeowners and residents confidence in the assessment and remediation works undertaken on their buildings.
Ministers will also have powers to establish a Responsible Developers Scheme, to support engagement with developers and encourage them to pay for or carry out remediation work.
The Scottish Government is investing Ā£41 million in the issue this year, and this legislation ensures that the continued prioritisation of residents’ and homeowners’ safety.
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The SNP Government has already taken a number of steps to address the matter, such as banning combustible cladding on high risk buildings and taking action to support those experiencing difficulties when trying to buy, sell or re-mortgage properties with problematic cladding.
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This Bill, which was a key part of the SNP Programme for Government, has been welcomed by stakeholders across Scotlandās housing, property and construction sectors.
I very much welcome the passing of this important Bill, backed by all MSPs.
GRAEME
The legislation will allow for the Scottish Government to build on critical actions already taken to address the issue of unsafe cladding in Scotland.
In combination with very considerable investment, this will go a long way to putting things right for those who have been affected.
The cooperative, cross-party development of this Bill, with key stakeholder backing, has helped ensure it will have a very meaningful safety impact.
This is a landmark moment in our efforts to make buildings safer and to safeguard homeowners and residents in buildings identified through the remediation programme as having unsafe cladding.
HOUSING MINISTER PAUL MCLENNAN
The unanimous passing of this legislation will allow us to accelerate our work by addressing barriers to assessment and remediation and give homeowners and residents confidence in work carried out.
The public commitments already made by many of Scotlandās developers to identify, assess and remediate their buildings mean public money can be focused on buildings without a linked developer.
Background
Single Building Assessment programme: spending information
Background and overview of the Cladding Remediation Programme
