'Death traps': Cladding campaigners project safety message featuring 'trapped leaseholders'
Video from End Our Cladding Scandal campaign
Campaigners projected a film onto the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday night to highlight the problem of unsafe cladding almost four years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The End Our Cladding Scandal campaign is calling for more support and for those responsible to be held to account.
"We've been waiting patiently for four years for the Government to make these dangerous homes safe," said one campaigner.
"Our pleas and cries for help are not being heard at all - we are desperate and at the end of our tether. We hope this is a way to send a message to those we have elected that you need to start thinking about the safety of the residents of this country," she added.
The projection featured four affected leaseholders who said they felt trapped emotionally, physically, financially, and mentally.
"We are expecting bills to be coming in up to £90,000 - that's more than my mortgage. They should be getting the builders who created this to resolve these issues - not myself, not my fellow leaseholders... it's shocking," said another campaigner.
"I just work as a chef and the guys in Parliament don't seem to get it, they're not getting this issue we're facing - we could be bankrupt by next year maybe even before that," he added.
The Government said it had spent millions to remove dangerous cladding but campaigners said many people were still trapped in unsafe homes.
"We understand many people are worried - we’re protecting those in buildings between 11m-18m from unaffordable costs, ensuring no leaseholder will pay more than £50 a month to remove unsafe cladding," said a Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson.
"We have been clear building owners should make their buildings safe without passing on costs to leaseholders - and we will ensure the industry pays its fair share towards the costs of cladding remediation through a new levy and tax.
"This is on top of the more than £5 billion to fully fund the replacement of unsafe cladding in highest risk buildings," they added.