Leaseholders offered help with costly fire safety measures

Nation.Cymru staff

Leaseholders facing bills running into hundreds of pounds a month for temporary fire safety measures are to receive financial support from the Welsh Government.

A new Wales Interim Measures Alarm Grant will launch on October 1 to cover the cost of alarm systems required in eligible residential buildings while fire safety remediation work is carried out.

The Welsh Government says installing appropriate alarm systems could reduce or remove the need for costly “waking watch” arrangements, under which trained staff patrol buildings to detect fires.

Some leaseholders who have already paid for interim alarm systems will also be able to apply to have the cost reimbursed.

The scheme will form part of the Welsh Building Safety Fund and applies to alarm systems required to support a simultaneous evacuation policy while remediation work is completed.

Interim measures have been introduced in some buildings with serious fire safety defects while residents wait for permanent work to be carried out.

Announcing the grant in the Senedd, Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning Siân Gwenllian said: “Since taking up this role, I have met leaseholders and listened to their stories. I have been moved by what I’ve heard.

“Their accounts have stayed with me, and they have shaped my determination to act.

“That is why I am pleased to announce today that I am launching a Wales Interim Measures Alarm Grant. This fund will provide financial support to leaseholders facing the costs of interim alarm systems required to support a simultaneous evacuation policy.”

Ms Gwenllian also updated MSs on the wider Building Safety Remediation Programme, which is intended to address life-critical fire safety defects in residential buildings of 11 metres and above.

She said she had recently met developers signed up to the Welsh Government’s remediation contract.

“I made it clear that all obligations under the contract must be met or I will not hesitate to pursue all appropriate avenues in relation to any failures,” she said.

“I am committed to accelerating the pace of remediation and holding developers to account.”

Regulations

Ms Gwenllian also said she hoped to lay regulations under the Building Safety (Wales) Act 2026 before the Christmas recess, paving the way for further protections for leaseholders affected by remediation work to come into force in 2027.

The Welsh Government’s Building Safety Remediation Programme was established following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, in which 72 people died.

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