A LAW designed to shield leaseholders from the costs of works to make their buildings safe will return to Parliament next Monday.

MPs in the House of Commons will debate the Fire Safety Bill on Monday, as well as an amendment intended to strengthen regulation in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

The two MPs who tabled it, Conservatives Steve McPartland and Royston Smith, say it is essential to prevent leaseholders suddenly being presented with bills potentially running to tens of thousands of pounds with just weeks to pay.

It was debated last month, but did not go to a vote after time ran out. In the debate, Basingstoke's MP Maria Miller said she would "pause" her support for the amendment after being convinced by the government that the Fire Safety Bill "may not be the right place for further assurances on remediation costs".

It comes after The Gazette revealed the scale of Basingstoke's cladding crisis this week by making public the results of several fire surveys carried out in the town.

Four blocks of flats at Crown Heights and the top two floors of three blocks at Victory Hill have failed safety checks in recent months.

Speaking in last month's debate, Mrs Miller said: "Speaking in the debate, Mrs Miller said: "Owning your own home is a very British dream, but it has turned into a nightmare for thousands in the aftermath of Grenfell. That is why there is such strength of feeling across the House today.

"In the UK it should not be high risk to buy a home in a block of flats built and marketed by a reputable house builder under strict building control regimes, only to find that the professional and regulatory checks have been a fiction. That is a situation in which hundreds of my constituents find themselves.

"It is clear from today’s debate that no one wants residents to pay for this disgraceful behaviour, that there cannot be a blank cheque from Government, and that those who caused the problem have to pay for the works that are needed.

"The only question is how we achieve all that, so I warmly welcome the Government’s announcement of an additional £3.5 billion to fund remedial work, a grant scheme for low-rise buildings, a builders levy and a property developer tax.

"This will be of some reassurance to leaseholders, and a start to making sure that those responsible for the failings are made to pay for what they did wrong."

She added that she "accept[ed] the argument" of neighbour MP and government minister Kit Malthouse, who argued that the best place for debate on shielding leaseholders from large costs is not this piece of legislation.