Cladding victims may get access to a specialist support service, following an amendment to the Mayor’s budget on Wednesday.
The Building Safety Support Hub would offer expert help to those impacted by Southwark’s building-safety-crisis regarding their legal and financial situation, alongside providing mental health support.
Southwark and Greenwich are heavily affected by the building safety crisis, each with 71 skyscrapers that have serious safety defects, including flammable cladding.
At least 17,000 people in Southwark are thought to be living in potential dangerous housing, making Southwark the worst-hit borough by the building safety crisis.
This is followed closely by Greenwich, with an estimated 15,000 people under threat.
Cllr Hamish McCallum, Southwark Liberal Democrat leader, whose party put forward the support hub idea, said: “The building safety crisis is a torment for many Southwark residents who are dealing with tortuous pressures due to the Conservative government’s mismanagement of the situation.”
“We are fighting similar battles in Southwark where we believe the council should refuse to work with developers that are not adequately supporting leaseholders,” he added.
‘Moment of relief’ for family landed with £85,000 cladding bill
A motion to boycott developers or housing associations that do not support leaseholders and property owners affected by the building safety crisis was also proposed to London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s budget.
Mayor Khan is duty-bound to respond to the proposed amendments when he presents his final budget at Mayor’s Question Time on 24 February 2022.
Any amendments will have to be passed by a two-thirds majority in the London Assembly.
The London Fire Brigade revealed in October that more than 1,000 buildings in the capital had defects, such as flammable cladding, that would require residents to evacuate in the event of a fire.
Measures such as a waking watch or a common alarm system to alert residents if a fire breaks out have been introduced in the aftermath of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire tragedy that killed 72 people, although these solutions involve major costs, which are often fronted by residents themselves.
In 2009, the Lakanal House fire in Camberwell killed six people, including three young children.
Yet a huge number of problems remain, despite these efforts.
Those affected by the building safety crisis face significant building costs to fix defective cladding, as well as the continued stress of living in an unsafe home.
The Government has provided a £1.6 billion fund to fix the problem, but there are fears the costs across the country could be double that – or even more.