Losses covered under the UK fire safety reinsurance facility have been raised to £75 million ($156 million) from £50 million ($104 million), the Association of British Insurers says.

The facility was launched in April last year to increase availability of cover for higher-risk residential buildings awaiting work to fix fire safety issues.

“As capacity increases, this should encourage more competition and improve the availability of insurance,” the ABI said.

“In turn, this should support leaseholders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and owners in Scotland.”

The facility was created by (re)insurance broker McGill and Partners with support from the ABI and in partnership with the British Insurance Brokers Association.

The ABI says in the facility’s first year more than 760 buildings were insured for a total of £17.1 billion ($35.7 billion).