Ministers plan extra cash to remove unsafe cladding

The government is planning to provide substantial extra funding to stave off a growing rebellion over the costs of fixing unsafe cladding, BBC Newsnight has been told.

Thousands of flat owners face large bills for fire safety work prompted by the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people.

At least 35 Conservative MPs have signed an amendment to ensure the cost of does not fall on homeowners.

The funding could amount to billions.

Housing Minister Chris Pincher said the government would announce a financial solution "very shortly".

He urged MPs to withdraw their amendment - warning it would slow down progress of the government's Fire Safety Bill, currently going through Parliament.

Newsnight has learned that an announcement is expected within weeks as negotiations between the housing ministry and Treasury are reaching a conclusion.

The government has decided to allocate extra funding, possibly running into billions of pounds, to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding.

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The deal is intended to create a lasting solution to the issue, and involves input from developers, the insurance industry , mortgage providers and leaseholders.

The 2017 Grenfell Tower fire exposed the dangers of unsafe cladding and triggered fire-safety renovations across the country.

The government has set up a £1.6bn building safety fund to pay for the removal of the kind of cladding used on Grenfell Tower.

However other fire-safety defects, such as missing fire breaks, are not covered by the scheme.

And a report by MPs has said the money allocated for fixing dangerous cladding is insufficient.

'Crippling'

On Monday, MPs debated a Labour motion calling for the government "to protect leaseholders and taxpayers from the cost by pursuing those responsible for the cladding crisis".

The Conservative leadership asked its MPs to abstain, so the motion passed unopposed but the result is not binding on the government.

Speaking earlier in the day, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer accused ministers of offering "half-baked solutions" and called for a national cladding taskforce to be established.

Hana Imaan, a resident of Brindley House in Birmingham, told BBC Two's Newsnight that her service charge had gone up by £500 a month, in addition to higher insurance costs.

She said the rise was "financially crippling" and described the stress of increased bills as "phenomenal".

Malcolm Tarling of the Association of British Insurers said: "No insurance company wants to saddle leaseholders with significantly higher bills but the reality is that insurance is priced on risk and until we speed up the removal of combustible cladding from buildings these costs are going to continue."

"We are the first to say this is unacceptable," he added.