Additional investment zones, business rates relief, devolution deals, and a series of measures geared towards unlocking planning backlogs were all featured in chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s list of 110 measures for economic growth.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has revealed the government's autumn budget, which includes large investments in brownfield land developments, transport infrastructure and housing.
Dan Whelan
Despite it pledging an additional £3.5bn to remove dangerous materials from high-rise buildings, the Government’s further measures to resolve the cladding crisis are inadequate, according to commentators.
Speaking in the House of Commons yesterday, housing minister Robert Jenrick announced the further funding support to help pay for the remediation of unsafe buildings over 18 metres high, taking the total funding the Government has provided for this cause to £5bn.
Whitehall set aside £1.5bn for the work last year, a figure many said at the time would barely scratch the surface of the problem demonstrated by the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017.
Runcorn residents left sickened over cladding announcement Plans to force owners of flats covered in flammable cladding to pay to make their homes safe have left leaseholders feeling “sickened”. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick announced on Wednesday that the government would pay to take dangerous cladding off buildings more than 18m or six storeys high. But for those whose homes fall below that height, the government is only offering long-term loans to pay for the work. For residents of The Decks in Runcorn, where three of the six blocks are below 18m high, this will mean paying up to £50 per month more on top of already soaring insurance bills.