Cladding scandal: experiences from the Leaseholders Together protest

When we asked if people had been experiencing mortgage issues with EWS1 forms in July 2020, hundreds of people told us their stories.

We’ve been covering the cladding and building safety crisis since across our channels, hearing directly from affected leaseholders and helping to publicise the often outrageous bills these people are now facing.

As a result, a Which? survey of nearly 2,000 affected flat owners revealed the appalling toll the situation has taken on their mental health. As things have continued to get worse instead of better, leaseholders decided enough was enough.

On 16 September 2021 the campaign, organised jointly by End Our Cladding Scandal, the National Leasehold Campaign and the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, descended on London’s Parliament Square to demand action from the government.

Hearing your stories

I took the Which? video team along to the rally to hear directly from victims of the crisis and MPs who are part of a cross-party group of MPs and Lords active on this issue. Here are their stories and experiences.

I think we can all agree that homeowners shouldn’t be left to suffer financially and mentally as a result of the mistakes and failings of regulation and industry. And the leaseholders themselves are clear on what they think should happen, telling us consistently that the responsible parties should be identified and forced to pay for the defects they caused.

Future solutions

As support from MPs across the political spectrum is offered and solutions are proposed to the government by leaseholders themselves (such as the ‘Polluter Pays’ Bill written by the residents of Royal Artillery Quays), we’ll be covering what happens next on Which? News.