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There are likely to be at least 1,678 buildings with combustible materials on their facades not included in government statistics because they use different materials to Grenfell Tower, research has estimated.
Analysis of publicly available data by the insulation manufacturer Rockwool estimated that at least 2,135 high-rise and high-risk buildings have combustible materials on their facades.
Since Grenfell, the government has focused on buildings with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding which was used on the facade of the tower and helped the flames spread with devastating consequences.
It has identified 457 such buildings, of which 155 are undergoing remediation work to make them safe.
However, the government has not made any attempt to calculate the number of buildings with other kinds of combustible cladding materials, such as high-pressure laminate or those with combustible insulation or combustible window panels.
Nor has it calculated the number of high-risk buildings which are not high-rises and are clad in ACM.
Its proposed ban on combustible materials on the outside of buildings would cover these materials but would not apply to existing buildings – meaning there would be no pressure on building owners to identify or remove them if necessary.
Rockwool’s analysis, which it has submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), took publicly available information from the Glenigan construction database to give a total number of new build and refurbishment projects of high rise and high risk from the past five years.
Using market share information, it estimated that 90% of these would have combustible insulation, giving a total figure of 2,135, of which 457 are accounted for by the government’s figures on high-rise buildings with ACM cladding.
Of the remaining 1,678, 340 are high-rise buildings with non-ACM combustible materials in their facades, while 1,338 are other high-risk buildings with combustible materials, both ACM and non-ACM.
Darryl Matthews, managing director at Rockwool, which manufactures and sells non-combustible insulation, said: “This data shows that there are still large numbers of high-risk, as well as high-rise, buildings wrapped in materials that can fuel fires.
“The next step is a full audit of all buildings in the country to establish all the materials, not just ACM cladding, that they use on their external walls.”
High-risk buildings include those holding vulnerable people that would be difficult to evacuate in a fire such as hospitals, schools and care homes, while high rises are identified as buildings above 18m.
The government does not collect information on high-risk buildings such as hospitals that are not high-rise buildings, even if they are clad in ACM.
Housing secretary James Brokenshire said: “I have asked the independent expert panel to review [its] guidance and ensure it is still appropriate today.”
Glenigan only gives information per project, not per building and since many projects will include more than one block, Rockwool believes this number is likely to be an underestimate.
It has submitted a list of 69 projects it has specifically identified as using non-ACM combustible materials in facades.
One of these is the Charlemont Farm Estate, where four nine-storey blocks owned by Sandwell Council were clad in a high-pressure laminate material which is combustible.
A Sandwell Council spokesman said: “We are examining the claims that have been made by one supplier of cladding material about the materials that are provided by one of their competitors. These materials have not been declared to be unsafe by the Government.”
Update: at 16.13 on 28.11.18 This story was updated to clarify that the government does not collect data on high-risk buildings that are not high-rises, even if they are clad in ACM.
Update: at 14.02 on 29.11.18 This story was updated to include a comment from Sandwell.
In the days following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, Inside Housing launched the Never Again campaign to call for immediate action to implement the learning from the Lakanal House fire, and a commitment to act – without delay – on learning from the Grenfell Tower tragedy as it becomes available.
One year on, we have extended the campaign asks in the light of information that has emerged since.
Here are our updated asks:
GOVERNMENT
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
LANDLORDS
Read our in-depth investigation into how building regulations have changed over time and how this may have contributed to the Grenfell Tower fire: