London Fire Brigade has responded to the Government’s announcement this week to reset its approach to building safety with a bold new plan to protect leaseholders and make wealthy developers and companies pay to fix the cladding crisis.

London Fire Commissioner Andy Roe, said: “Last year the number of blocks of flats in London with fire safety failings exceeded the unacceptable milestone of 1,000 reflecting the ongoing failure of the building industry to step up and address the very serious issues facing the built environment. The announcements this week are a significant step in the right direction and a sign that Government is listening to London Fire Brigade and others who have been calling for action to urgently address these safety concerns.

“We welcome moves towards a more proportionate and pragmatic response to challenges with building safety. Leaseholders are currently facing unacceptable burdens and it is right to take a sensible, building by building approach. We also support action being taken to allocate clear responsibility for remediation costs, which we hope will speed up the process of making buildings safer.

“While wider fire safety issues within the built environment still remain and will also need to be addressed, this announcement should help to push the culture change of the building industry that is desperately needed in this country.”