Protest outside Parliament over cladding scandal
The event protested 'everything leasehold' including cladding
Last updated 24th May 2022
Protesters are rallying in Parliament Square today to demand change on a variety of issues, from cladding and insulation, to ground rent, services charges and increasing insurance.
Attendees of the Leaseholders Together Rally, an event organised by The National Leaseholder Campaign, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and the End Our Cladding Scandal Campaign, are protesting 'everything leasehold'.
What happened during the leaseholders' protest
16:00: Protest draws to a close
Demonstrators enjoy the sunshine as today's demonstration comes to a close.
Leaseholders descended on the capital on the same day Michael Gove started his new job as Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, after the sacking of Robert Jenrick yesterday.
15.19: For many at the protest, it's clear that this issue is a hugely personal and emotional one
Our Westminster correspondent Georgie Prodromou speaks to Abi from Leeds, who tells us her story:
14.50: "Their flats are worth nothing.... everyday they wake up and the nightmare is still there"
Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn is among the politicians mixing with the crowds on Parliament Square.
He's been calling for action on the cladding scandal since the issues first emerged in the wake of the Grenfell fire in 2017.
"This is a problem that's not (leaseholders) fault. They didn't build buildings which had missing firebreaks, they didn't put the cladding on" he said.
"If you bought a car or washing machine that was a fire risk and a company told you that you had to pay to fix it, you'd say get lost."
"Why should leaseholders have to pay?"
He added: "There's so many people here from all over the country... because they want the new Housing Secretary Michael Gove to listen and to come up with an answer."
14.40: Lib Dem Deputy Leader gives us Michael Gove's priorities
St Albans MP Daisy Cooper tells us what the new Housing minister's three priorities should be:
14.09: MP Kim Johnson doesn't believe a new Housing Secretary will make much difference
Labour MP Kim Johnson talks to our Westminster correspondent Georgie Prodromou and tells her she has 'little faith' in the new Housing Secretary on this issue.
13.57: New Housing Secretary Michael Gove should make 'huge changes'
13.50: 'We're sitting ducks really'
The Landmark apartment complex on Bexhill seafront in East Sussex is covered in potentially lethal cladding.
Adrienne Burton told us what it's like to live there:
"We're sitting ducks really, we're in this highly flammable building, scared unable to sell.
"Some people rent here, but I can't afford to move out anywhere else and rent and I wouldn't want to put a renter in here knowing what's going on."
13:26: 'We don't know when we'll be able to stay in our house'
Our reporter spoke to Vanessa Samra at the protest, she owns a flat in East London.
She tells us she can't sell it because it's in a building fitted with flammable cladding:
"We don't know when we will be able to sell our house; we should be in a a position to get a good amount of equity for our next purchase, which would have been a house but we're totally stuck on the bottom rung of the property ladder because of something totally out of our control"
"We didn't fake the testing for the insulation, we didn't build the building without cavity barriers and firebreaks.
"We bought a building that was signed of as safe and the government should be helping us because developers are building in a bad way and the regulations are lax"
13.00: The rally starts
At 1pm the rally begins, with speakers giving speeches on stage in Parliament Square.
More protestors gather to hear the speeches and to show support for the cause.
12.30: Sadiq Kahn tells us he's angry and heartbroken
Speaking ahead of today's demonstration the Mayor of London, Labour's Sadiq Khan, said:
"It's really important now that the government stops passing the buck and steps in to make these buildings safe.
"They can later on have the argument with the landowners and the developers.
"But it's also important now that the government now legislates to make sure people who live in these buildings know how safe (or) unsafe their buildings are.
"We need transparency."
12.25: Protestors start to gather
Our reporters are at the rally and sent us back these images of the crowds beginning to gather.
The problems for leaseholders
Since the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 leaseholders have faced massive bills to make their properties safe.
The blaze at the London housing block, which killed 72 people and injured 74, was started by a malfunctioning fridge, but rapidly spread across the building via the cladding mounted to the side of the building.
Some leaseholders have had their homes rendered effectively worthless because of similar flammable cladding installed by developers.
Others bought properties years ago, only to find out recently that they were built without key safety features like fire-breaks.
Leaseholders are now caught in the middle of an argument about exactly who should pay for the work to get rid of the cladding and improve fire safety.
The issue has turned into a long running dispute between the government, the companies which built the properties and the homeowners themselves.
The government has agreed the fully fund the removal of unsafe cladding from buildings 18m (6 storeys) or higher, but this offer doesn't apply to lower rise buildings between 11m and 18m tall.
At the moment leaseholders in those buildings can access a government run long-term loan scheme to get the funds needed to pay building owners to have the cladding removed.
Repayments are capped at £50 a month.
In April a Parliamentary Committee called for the loan scheme to be scrapped, finding that "leaseholders are no more responsible for non-cladding fire safety defects than for the presence of combustible cladding."
Members of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee said the government should pay for work to make buildings safe, not residents.