My questions is why do leaseholders have to pay at all?

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, has questioned why leaseholders have to pay anything towards replacing unsafe cladding on their buildings.

Gove said that despite the £5bn government scheme he was: “still unhappy with the principle of leaseholders having to pay at all, no matter how effective a scheme might be in capping their costs or not hitting them too hard at anyone time.”

At the House of Commons housing committee meeting he indicated he would consider pausing plans for the cladding repair loans where leaseholders would repay a maximum of £50 a month.

Gove is critical of developers who he perceives as putting cost before safety and doesn’t believe that leaseholders who are the innocent party should be asked to cover the costs or pay extortionate service charges and the government should step in to assist.

Watch this space as the Secretary of State has a reputation for being more maverick in his previous ministerial roles.