You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Council issues housing association with improvement notice to remove dangerous cladding system
A large housing association has been hit with a council improvement notice requiring it to remove dangerous cladding from one of its tower blocks.
A letter sent by Woking Borough Council to Southern Housing Group and seen by Inside Housing sets out a timeline in which the landlord must remove the cladding or face a potentially unlimited fine.
As well as dangerous cladding, the nine-storey Eastgate Block in Woking was found to have missing fire barriers around compartment floors, the notice said.
The council has deemed the issues Category 1 hazards, meaning the building owner must rectify them, under Section 5 of the Housing Act 2004.
The letter, sent on 9 July, said: “Although there are clearly fire precautions in place, however, should a fire occur, there remains the potential for a member of the vulnerable age group (those 60 years old and above) to be trapped at higher levels with exposure to toxic smoke justifying an increase in Class 1 harms.
“The precence [sic] of hazardous cladding will be stressful for the occupiers as they are worried about their safety, possible physical, mental and social risks.”
READ MORE
Southern Housing Group, which owns around 28,000 homes across London and the South East, must commence remedial action to fix the cladding by 9 December and complete it within a year, the notice said.
Failure to comply with an improvement notice can lead to an unlimited fine or imposition of a civil penalty of up to £30,000, it warned.
The improvement notice does not specify the type of cladding on the block, though the council confirmed to Inside Housing that it is an expanded polystyrene system with a rendered finish.
Chris Harris, executive director – customer services at Southern Housing Group, said the safety and well-being of residents are a priority.
He added: “Southern Housing Group has been working closing with the borough council ever since concerns about the external wall system came to light.
“We welcome the council’s scrutiny and guidance, and we have been liaising with them on both the comprehensive suite of fire safety measures in place to protect our residents and the programme of remedial works we are finalising to bring the external wall systems into line with the advice from central government.”
A spokesperson for Woking Borough Council said: “The council has been working closely with Surrey Fire and Rescue to assure the safety of all residents at Eastgate.
“An improvement notice has been served to ensure that remediation works are delivered in accordance with Southern Housing Group’s programme of works.
“Southern Housing Group has introduced extra fire safety precautions, including a 24-hour waking watch, until the cladding is replaced.”
