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Vote to protect leaseholders from cladding costs fails despite Tory rebellion

Government defeats amendment aiming to stop fire safety costs being passed on to leaseholders, but Lords vote means new Commons showdown
Hundreds of thousands of leaseholders living in unsellable and potentially dangerous high-rise homes will continue to face fire safety bills of up to £100,000 each after MPs again voted against banning building owners from passing on remediation costs.
Despite a Conservative backbench rebellion of 31 MPs including the former party leader Iain Duncan Smith, the Commons voted 340 to 225 on Tuesday against an amendment to the fire safety bill to protect leaseholders from costs to make their homes safe in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster. The total bill for leaseholders could exceed £12bn, according to property experts.
A further Commons showdown was then teed up as peers on Tuesday evening approved a new amendment to protect leaseholders, meaning the bill will return before MPs on Wednesday.
Freehold owners have been holding leaseholders responsible for the cost of fixing dangerous cladding and other faults. Labour estimates the crisis has lefts 1.3m flats unmortgageable. The Bank of England has been examining lenders’ exposure to blocks that have fire safety concerns to determine whether the building safety crisis affects their stability. It currently thinks banks can absorb the risk.
However, the housing minister, Christopher Pincher, warned that could delay the bill’s introduction for another year – five years after the Grenfell disaster claimed 72 lives.
The bill is also supposed to boost building safety by demanding fire risk assessments to external walls and enable enforcement action against safety failures.
Pincher criticised attempts to protect leaseholders from costs as too open-ended and said they could leave government vulnerable to legal challenges by property developers and owners.
Speaking for Labour, the shadow minister for policing and the fire service, Sarah Jones, compared the government’s failure to protect homeowners to the row over the redecoration of the prime minister’s Downing Street flat.
She asked: “Does this government only care about the donors who keep the prime minister in fancy furniture so the prime minister can spend £60,000 on curtains in No 10 while there are nurses and key workers out there facing £60,000 bills for cladding and no wealthy Tory donors to bail them out?”
The government has promised £5bn to replace combustible cladding, but only on buildings over 18 metres in height, and the money does not cover other fire safety defects.
That has left those leaseholders who live in shorter blocks with dangerous cladding and those who have missing fire breaks in wall systems or defective fire doors with unsellable homes and huge bills. The government has estimated the cost to leaseholders of the legislation could be up to £75,000 each.
The vote came despite polling of MPs by YouGov that found three-quarters of MPs, including two-thirds of Tories, believe the government should pay the costs of all building safety work upfront, and then claim it back later from those responsible – such as manufacturers and private developers.
The building safety crisis has also hit social landlords. Twelve of the biggest not-for-profit housing associations have already set aside £2.9bn – largely from social housing rents – to make their buildings safe, according to research by the National Housing Federation. It said they have had to cut plans for thousands of new social homes as a result.
source: Robert Booth
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BENEFIT AGM approves 10%...
- March 27, 2025
BENEFIT, the Kingdom’s innovator and leading company in Fintech and electronic financial transactions service, held its Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the company’s headquarters in the Seef District.
During the meeting, shareholders approved all items listed on the agenda, including the ratification of the minutes of the previous AGM held on 26 March 2024. The session reviewed and approved the Board’s Annual Report on the company’s activities and financial performance for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2024, and the shareholders expressed their satisfaction with the company’s operational and financial results during the reporting period.
The meeting also reviewed the Independent External Auditor’s Report on the company’s consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2024. Subsequently, the shareholders approved the audited financial statements for the fiscal year. Based on the Board’s recommendation, the shareholders approved the distribution of a cash dividend equivalent to 10% of the paid-up share capital.
Furthermore, the shareholders endorsed the allocation of a total amount of BD 172,500 as remuneration to the members of the Board for the year ended 31 December 2024, subject to prior clearance by related authorities.
The extension of the current composition of the Board was approved, which includes ten members and one CBB observer, for a further six-month term, expiring in September 2025, pending no objection from the CBB.
The meeting reviewed and approved the Corporate Governance Report for 2024, which affirmed the company’s full compliance with the corporate governance directives issued by the CBB and other applicable regulatory frameworks. The AGM absolved the Board Members of liability for any of their actions during the year ending on 31st December 2024, in accordance with the Commercial Companies Law.
In alignment with regulatory requirements, the session approved the reappointment of Ernst & Young (EY) as the company’s External Auditors for the fiscal year 2025, covering both the parent company and its subsidiaries—Sinnad and Bahrain FinTech Bay. The Board was authorised to determine the external auditors’ professional fees, subject to approval from the CBB, and the meeting concluded with a discussion of any additional issues as per Article (207) of the Commercial Companies Law.
Speaking on the company’s performance, Mr. Mohamed Al Bastaki, Chairman BENEFIT , stated: “In terms of the financial results for 2024, I am pleased to say that the year gone by has also been proved to be a success in delivering tangible results. Growth rate for 2024 was 19 per cent. Revenue for the year was BD 17 M (US$ 45.3 Million) and net profit was 2 Million ($ 5.3 Million).
Mr. Al Bastaki also announced that the Board had formally adopted a new three-year strategic roadmap to commence in 2025. The strategy encompasses a phased international expansion, optimisation of internal operations, enhanced revenue diversification, long-term sustainability initiatives, and the advancement of innovation and digital transformation initiatives across all service lines.
“I extend my sincere appreciation to the CBB for its continued support of BENEFIT and its pivotal role in fostering a stable and progressive regulatory environment for the Kingdom’s banking and financial sector—an environment that has significantly reinforced Bahrain’s standing as a leading financial hub in the region,” said Mr. Al Bastaki. “I would also like to thank our partner banks and valued customers for their trust, and our shareholders for their ongoing encouragement. The achievements of 2024 set a strong precedent, and I am confident they will serve as a foundation for yet another successful and impactful year ahead.”
Chief Executive of BENEFIT; Mr. Abdulwahed AlJanahi commented, “The year 2024 represented another pivotal chapter in BENEFIT ’s evolution. We achieved substantial progress in advancing our digital strategy across multiple sectors, while reinforcing our long-term commitment to the development of Bahrain’s financial services and payments landscape. Throughout the year, we remained firmly aligned with our objective of delivering measurable value to our shareholders, strategic partners, and customers. At the same time, we continued to play an active role in enabling Bahrain’s digital economy by introducing innovative solutions and service enhancements that directly address market needs and future opportunities.”
Mr. AlJanahi affirmed that BENEFIT has successfully developed a robust and well-integrated payment network that connects individuals and businesses across Bahrain, accelerating the adoption of emerging technologies in the banking and financial services sector and reinforcing Bahrain’s position as a growing fintech hub, and added, “Our achievements of the past year reflect a long-term vision to establish a resilient electronic payment infrastructure that supports the Kingdom’s digital economy. Key developments in 2024 included the implementation of central authentication for open banking via BENEFIT Pay”
Mr. AlJanahi concluded by thanking the Board for its strategic direction, the company’s staff for their continued dedication, and the Central Bank of Bahrain, member banks, and shareholders for their valuable partnership and confidence in the company’s long-term vision.
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