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Tonight we bring you the staggering numbers released by 2 of the largest housing firms Wimpey Taylor and Persimmon. #CladdingScandal #EndOurCladdingScandal THREAD:
First a reminder of the estimated £3.5 billion cost of the #CladdingScandal being passed on to leaseholders 2/14
Today Taylor Wimpey announced total orders for 2020 of £2.68 billion up £500 million from 2019. 3/14
Housing firm Taylor Wimpey also announced cash reserves of £719 million up £174 million from 2019 4/14
While housing firm Taylor Wimpey put aside £30 million to remove unsafe cladding in 2018 this represents just 4% of their cash reserves in 2020 5/14
Taylor Wimpey will announce their full financial results in March 2021 but today announced that they expect operating profit to be £293 million for 2020 6/14
Also today, Shadow Secretary of State for Housing @ThangamMP when interviewed stated "...safe would mean fire safe. That should be fundamental and should be fixed by now." 7/14
Moving on to Persimmon, yesterday they announced total revenue of £3.33 billion for 2020 8/14
Housing firm Persimmon also increased their cash reserves by £390 million to a staggering £1.23 billion meaning thet and Wimpey Taylor have combined cash reserves of £1.9 billion. 9/14
The financial results of housing firms Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon are in stark contrast to the financial pressure leaseholders face. It is estimated to cost £300 - £500 per month for leaseholders forced to use Waking Watches. 10/14
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick called waking watches "a national scandal" and a "rip off" when challenged by a fellow Tory MP on the Government's response to the #CladdingScandal 11/14
However Housing Secretary has overseen Government support that has a glaring loophole. £1.6 billion has been made available to #EndOurCladdingScandal However this is only available to buildings over 18 metres in height leaving smaller blocks excluded. 12/14
Loopholes in the government support package led to a huge backlash from the UK Cladding Action Group's co-founder Ritu Saha who said "It is astonishing that Robert Jenrick has no real understanding of the basic issues of the building safety and cladding crisis..." 13/14
Leaseholders unable to access government support to fix cladding are left with no choice but to pay substantial monthly waking watch fees. The alternative? They face failing fire safety tests and receiving a £0 valuation for their properties. 14/14
Competitions and Market Authority (CMA) have launched an investigation into housing firms including Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon. The CMA Chief Exec said: "It is unacceptable for housing developers to mislead or take advantage of homeowners". 15/14.
