The Times reported that the government was criticised for ‘failing to replicate’ the cladding remediation fund set up for England to ‘remove potentially dangerous cladding and insulation from high-rise buildings’. While it stated that it was ‘considering a similar fund’ to that set up in England for cladding removal, ‘it has so far failed to match Westminster’s spending’, and insurers are ‘in some cases refusing to cover properties as a result of the regulations in Scotland’.
Homes for Scotland chief executive Nicola Barclay warned that this could have a ‘catastrophic impact’ on the country’s housing market, and as a consequence of the situation with cladding HSRAG was set up to help property owners living in buildings with combustible cladding ‘who are unable to sell the homes’.
The news outlet noted that post Grenfell mortgage lenders have said properties 18m or taller with cladding ‘must provide written confirmation they meet fire safety standards’, but many homeowners who are trying to sell their homes have said surveyors have given them ‘nil valuations’ that render the property ‘worthless’, and claim that there is ‘no clear guidance as to what tests are required or who is authorised to carry them out’.
HRSAG’s Chris Ashurst commented that ‘we know from personal experience the fear and stress this ongoing doubt causes and it is time that all those affected urgently work together to ensure real reform’, while Scottish government chairman of the ministerial working group for building and fire safety Kevin Stewart responded that ‘this matter remains a priority for the Scottish government’.