More than 95% of private sector buildings fail cladding test
More than 95% of private sector buildings tested by the government have failed cladding combustibility tests, Sajid Javid has revealed.
The communities secretary revealed in a debate in parliament last night that 89 privately owned buildings have had their cladding tested so far.
Of these, 85 have failed and only four have passed. Mr Javid said there are “thousands” of private sector buildings, and the government has asked councils to carry out audits to quantify the number with cladding.
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So far, the government has been publishing the results of cladding tests on tower blocks owned by councils and housing associations but had stayed virtually silent on problems in the private sector.
Tower blocks owned by councils and housing associations have also seen a 95% failure rate, with 165 out of 173 failing – indicating an industry-wide problem.
Mr Javid gave no detail on where the private sector buildings are, who owns them and what is being done to remove the cladding.
Responding to a question from Labour MP Catherine West, he said: “In the private sector, 89 buildings have been tested so far, of which 85 have failed and four have passed.
“That is only 89, however; there are obviously thousands of private sector buildings, and that is why we have asked all local authorities to conduct an audit of properties in their area and to work with us on a process to enable us to monitor this situation.”