The boss of Aviva has called on ministers to extend the cap on fire-safety costs to leaseholders in low-rise apartments.
Six years on from the Grenfell fire, thousands of leaseholders in blocks of flats under 11m in England are facing big bills to replace cladding and make other fire-safety changes. They were excluded from the cap after the government deemed the buildings at lower risk from fire.
Amanda Blanc, chief executive at the FTSE 100 insurer, said the government should “definitely” consider bringing lower-level apartment buildings within the scope of the cap, adding the 11m rule “does feel slightly arbitrary”.
“What we would do is to encourage real clarity around the rules, because I think at the moment, that is lacking,” she said.
