Residents in high-rise blocks that are over 18 metres high in England will not have to pay to remove unsafe cladding.
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick announced an extra £3.5bn package to help those who faced huge bills for fire safety improvements.
Many said they were trapped in unsafe buildings following new rules after 2017’s Grenfell Tower blaze.
Mr Jenrick said it was the ‘largest ever government investment’ in building safety. The funding comes on top of a £1.6bn package to remove unsafe cladding last year.
Residents in blocks between 11 and 18 meters will be able to secure loans to replace unsafe cladding. Mr Jenrick said they would never have to pay more than £50 a month for them.
He also announced:
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A new levy on developers of future high rises to cover the cost of grants
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A separate new tax on residential property development in the UK from 2022
Mr Jenrick told the Commons leaseholders in high-rise buildings above 18 metres, or with six storeys or more, would face no costs for cladding works.
He said the risk was “significantly lower” for lower-rise blocks of flats and added that it “cannot be right the costs fall solely on tax payers”.
It was also announced that the government would develop a levy targeted at developers seeking to build certain high-rise buildings in England.
Mr Jenrick also said a new tax for the UK residential property sector would be introduced from next year to raise £2bn over a decade to help pay for the removal of cladding.
Mr Jenrick described the action as an "unprecedented intervention" without which building owners would simply pass on the costs of remediation work to leaseholders.
“That would risk punishing those who have worked hard, who have bought their own home, but through no fault of their own have found themselves caught in an absolutely invidious situation,” he said.
