MK City Council welcomes powers to raise housing standards

Milton Keynes City Council has started collecting charges from housing developers in support of a national scheme to improve building safety and tackle dangerous cladding.

The city council, which owns no tower blocks or buildings with problematic cladding itself, has been given new powers to collect the Government’s Building Safety Levy, which was introduced in response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

The levy is designed to raise money to help the Government remove unsafe cladding and address other serious building safety issues in properties around the UK. Money collected by the city council will be passed to the Government to support this work, helping protect leaseholders from facing the costs themselves.

As part of its role as the local Building Control Authority, Milton Keynes City Council will be responsible for making sure the levy is paid. Developers will need to provide levy information as part of the building control process and properties cannot receive final completion certificates until the charge has been settled. Affordable housing, supported housing and some not-for-profit developments are exempt.

Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services, Cllr Sam Crooks, said, “Residents rightly expect homes to be safe and the levy is an important step in making sure companies who build and profit from new developments contribute towards resolving building safety issues. It’s a positive step that supports greater accountability and helps prevent the mistakes of the past from being repeated.”