Gove resets cladding 'scandal'

摘要

The first two months of 2022 have seen the government announce and start to implement a programme of measures to expedite a solution to the cladding crisis afflicting residential buildings of 11-18 metres. In a statement to the House of Commons on 10 January, Michael Gove, the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, said "the developers and cladding companies who caused the problem are dodging accountability and have made vast profits during the pandemic whilst hard working families have struggled. From today, we are bringing this scandal to an end -protecting leaseholders and making industry pay." Gove took office on 15 September 2021 and his statement marks a significant shift from the position of the previous housing secretary, Robert Jenrick. Following his statement, Gove wrote in the clearest of terms to property developers and cladding manufacturers that they must either meet his aims voluntarily, and fund the solution, or he would use new legal powers to compel them to do so. Within weeks, he tabled amendments to the Building Safety Bill1 to give him those powers.