The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has responded to claims made by the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) that the government is making a mistake by planning to charge buy-to-let landlords for cladding removal.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, yesterday urged ministers to rectify what he described as the “injustice” of making landlords potentially have to pay for remedial works on their buildings.

He argues that the government’s plans are not treating all leaseholders equally. In the process they also risk delaying remedial work on dangerous cladding as the government seeks to understand who may be an accidental or buy-to-let landlord, according to Beadle.

But the DLUHC has defended its position, pointing out that the government has scrapped the proposal for loans so that leaseholders living in medium and high-rise buildings – they will not pay a penny to fix dangerous cladding. But the government has not yet decided if buy-to-let landlords will be included within the scheme.

A DLUHC spokesperson told EYE: “We are bringing this scandal to an end – protecting leaseholders and making industry pay.

“It is not right that innocent leaseholders – including those who have moved out and now sublet their properties – should pay to remove dangerous cladding for which they were not responsible.

“We will explore whether this support should extend to other leaseholders, such as buy-to-let landlords.”

Government urged to fix ‘injustice’ as buy-to-let landlords face cladding costs