Why the e-bike boom is raising fire safety fears
The market for electric bikes, scooters and mopeds is expanding, which is a positive trend for cutting carbon emissions. Studies show they have a low carbon footprint.
Read moreFollowing the Grenfell tragedy, remediation work has been a requirement to buildings with unsafe external wall cladding.
This potentially creates an affordability crisis with many flat-owners facing large bills for renovations.
Cladding is the process of adding a new layer of material to the outside of a building. It may be installed to increase insulation or weather protection, or to improve the building’s appearance. But some cladding has been found to be combustible, prompting a building safety crisis affecting thousands of homeowners.
The cost of making a block of flats safe is supposed to be absorbed by the owners of the whole building and the land (also known as the freeholder). But in practice the cost has often been passed on to the owners of individual flats (leaseholders).
In January 2022, Housing Secretary Michael Gove promised no leaseholder living in a building more than 11 metres high would face any costs for fixing dangerous cladding. In April 2022, the government announced that major housing developers would commit a minimum of £2bn to fix any buildings of this size which they had a role in developing.
The building industry also committed to paying a further £3bn over 10 years through the Building Safety Levy, chargeable on all new residential buildings in England. This money will be used to fix buildings where those responsible for the cladding could not be identified, or forced to pay.
