UPDATE 1-UK gives housebuilders $5 bln bill to remove cladding

(Adds details)

LONDON, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Britain has ordered housebuilders
to pay around $5.4 billion to help remove dangerous cladding
from buildings following a deadly 2017 London fire that left
government, developers and owners at loggerheads over how to
make properties safe.

The blaze at Grenfell Tower in London killed more than 70
people and revealed the widespread use of cheap flammable
cladding on apartment blocks across the country, requiring
expensive removal or round-the-clock fire watches.

The government has already committed around 5 billion pounds
for repairs so far, and last year imposed a levy on
housebuilders to raise 2 billion pounds towards the cost over
the next 10 years.

It has so far targeted the removal of cladding on high-rise
properties. The announcement on Monday is designed to remove
cladding on buildings between 11 and 18 metres high where
tenants had been facing bills of tens of thousands of pounds to
remove cladding.

"It is neither fair nor decent that innocent leaseholders,
many of whom have worked hard and made sacrifices to get a foot
on the housing ladder, should be landed with bills they cannot
afford to fix problems they did not cause," housing minister
Michael Gove said.

The government has faced heavy criticism that it has taken
this long to get to a solution, with some leaseholders unable to
sell their properties when faced with bills that cost more than
the value of the apartment itself.

The cladding used on the Grenfell block was identified as
central to the rapid spread of the fire.
($1 = 0.7359 pounds)
(Reporting by Kate Holton; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and
Paul Sandle)