Gideon Amos

Gideon Amos

Liberal Democrat — Taunton and Wellington

Speaking in the House of Commons on 27 October 2026

Debate

Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill

Contribution

I certainly support my hon. Friend’s plea. I will come to the issue of the independence of building inspectors, which is very important. Let me return to standards. The building regulations are the standard that the Government have set; they are needed for newly built homes to be safe, so the same standard therefore has to apply to the homes that people already live in. I have visited high-rise apartments in London and elsewhere, and seen them covered in scaffolding and being remediated under the developer scheme, but many of them are being left with so much cladding breaching building regulations and fire safety standards that residents cannot get insurance. It is the insurance that really gives the game away. If the building really was safe, why would the insurance premiums be so high? We have increases in insurance costs of 56% and higher. For that reason, many owners cannot sell or get a new mortgage, so they sink into negative equity and become mortgage prisoners in their own home.

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