Fire service threatens to shut down 13 blocks over dangerous cladding

Building owners or managers have been asked to respond by 10 January under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order.

WYFRS said it hopes prohibitions are not needed and that “a swift resolution can be agreed”.

The affected buildings are: Skyline, Quay One, 20:20 House, McClure House, McClintock House, Crozier House, One Brewery Wharf, Aruba, Montague and the St George Building in Leeds; City Exchange and Landmark House in Bradford; and student block The Castings in Huddersfield.

Mr Walton’s letter said interim fire safety measures brought in at the blocks after Grenfell “should not continue indefinitely” and that “the safest course of action” is for their cladding to be removed.

It added that the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s phase one report recommendations make clear “that the fire risk presented by flammable cladding can only be removed if the cladding itself is completely removed”.

And it said recent incidents, including the Bolton fire, mean the fire service believes “it is now time to ask your building owner about their plans to remove the cladding on your building”.

WYFRS is not planning to take any action over the Christmas period.

“We are calling for urgent action to be taken to remove flammable cladding which remains on some buildings across our region,” a spokesperson for WYFRS said.

“We are now more than two years down the line and we feel these ‘interim measures’ cannot go on indefinitely.

“There has been a lack of action from some of those legally responsible for these buildings to resolve this issue, and following the first phase of the Grenfell report, we feel steps need to be taken by the responsible parties to remove this cladding to ensure the safety of residents.”

The freeholder of Landmark House is Bradford Council, while the head lease is held by Broadford Estates and Yorkshire Housing owns eight units in the block.

A spokesperson for Bradford Council said: “In January 2019 the council served a formal enforcement notice on the head leaseholders requiring works to Landmark House. This notice is currently the subject of an appeal which is to be heard by the first-tier tribunal on a date to be fixed.

“The head leaseholders for Landmark House have applied for government funding to replace the cladding and this application is being assessed.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Housing said: “In the further interests of safety we took the decision to rehouse all our residents after discussing the position with them.

“All our residents are happily rehoused with the exception of one remaining family who will be relocating shortly.”

In May, the government agreed to provide £200m to pay for the removal of Grenfell-style aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on private blocks, but affected leaseholders have since raised concerns about the onerous application process.

Ministers previously set a deadline of June 2020 for all ACM cladding to be remediated, but at the last count 318 high rises had still not been completed.

Inside Housing has made attempts to contact organisations connected to all the affected buildings.

In a statement, 20:20 House (Residential Management) Limited, said: “The ACM cladding panels installed on 20:20 House are situated on the top floors of the apartment building. Since the Grenfell fire we have been working closely with the local authority, fire service and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

“Due to the location of the ACM panels on the top floor only, the fire service were satisfied with the existing systems and procedures. We have maintained regular updates to tenants and leaseholders.

“The building warranty provider has accepted a claim submitted for the removal and replacement of the ACM cladding panels. This will minimise any claim to use public monies to carry out the works through the private sector ACM cladding remediation fund.

“The removal and remediation works are scheduled to commence February 2020.”

IQ, which manages The Castings, said: “IQ Castings has been rigorously assessed by independent fire engineers and fire risk assessors, and has been certified as safe and fit for residential occupation, and as having the appropriate fire safety measures in place.

“WYFRS is aware that planning to remove the cladding is underway and we aim for this to be completed by June 2020.”

Savills, which manages the Aruba and Montague blocks on behalf of owner LaSalle, said it is fully recladding and reinsulating the blocks.

It added: “These works started in September 2019 and are due to complete at the end of summer 2020. Residents are being kept informed of the progress of the work, and appropriate fire risk protection plans, which have been reviewed in light of these works, are in place.”

A spokesperson for The Lettings Room, which manages office-to-resi block City Exchange, said: “WYFRS have confirmed that we can continue to occupy the building but should be limited to the first 5 floors only, until the works are complete.

“The Lettings Room is working together with WYFRS and other stakeholders to ensure that works are completed as quickly as possible with completion currently scheduled for 7 March 2020.

“Our priority is the safety of the residents and we will do everything required to comply with the instructions of WYFRS.”

Update: at 17.17pm 11/12/19 a comment from The Lettings Room was added to the story.