Birmingham Ladywood MP joins them in Westminster.
Originally published on Free Radio
A group of leaseholders from Birmingham are calling out the Government for the “unfair targeting” of them with the costs of cladding removal.
Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the Government has covered the costs of removing certain types of cladding from buildings,
However, for other leaseholders, the type of cladding on their building isn’t covered by the Government scheme, despite still being flammable.
As a result, leaseholders like Jenny from Ladywood are being forced to pay tens of thousands of pounds under service charges to cover the cost of removing cladding. Jenny lives in the Islington Gate developments there and is a founding member of the Birmingham Leaseholder Action Group (LAG). She says, “we’re forced to live in buildings which are unsafe and practically un-insurable”.
“This is my first property, I only moved in last year and now instead of having a place which I was really looking forward to decorating and making my own, I’m now basically trapped in a flat which I can’t sell.”
Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood has joined protesters in London who are calling on the Government to do more to help leaseholders like Jenny. She says “these are life changing sums of money” for people in the Islington Gates development, which has cladding that isn’t covered by the government.
“My constituents are on the brink of emotional and physical breakdown because of the stress that they’re carrying. They’re looking at having to find fifty or sixty-thousands pounds which is money they simply so not have.
“One of my constituents told me he needs to find a sum of money that would be double his annual salary.
“They will face complete ruin unless the government steps in and does something.”
Laura Sanders 