You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Nearly 70 private blocks yet to have cladding removal plans in place despite December ‘enforcement’ deadline
A total of 67 private blocks with Grenfell-style cladding are yet to have any remediation plan in place despite a looming threat of government enforcement action if plans are not finalised, the latest building safety programme figures have shown.
Building owners of the 67 private high-rise residences and two social sector high-rise buildings with aluminium composite material (ACM) are yet to establish remediation plans as of 31 October, despite the government demanding that all plans be in place by the end of the year.
The figures supplied by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) show that 66 landlords have an “intent to remediate but are developing plans”, with one building having “unclear remediation plans”.
The latest figures come just a week after Dr Barabara Lane, fire safety figure and Grenfell Inquiry expert witness, said that building covered in ACM cladding may still be unsafe despite government assurances that temporary fire safety measures meant residents were protected.
There are currently 318 high-rise residential buildings still fully or partially covered in ACM cladding. Of these, there are still 169 private residential buildings that have yet to see their cladding removed, with 98 social sector residential building with ACM cladding systems.
The government has given a deadline of June 2020 for all remediation work to complete on private residential buildings and the end of this year for social housing blocks.
The figures showed that of the 98 social housing blocks, 83 have started remediation, 13 have a plan in place but no works have started, and two have the intention to remediate but have no plan in place.
READ MORE
This means that in the past six months, only 11 buildings have seen the remediation of ACM cladding completed.
In the private sector, 25 have seen remediation start, 77 have a remediation plan in place and 66 have reported an intention to remediate but have no plan in place so far. One block has no intention to remediate.
Former housing secretary James Brokenshire said in July that any building in the private sector have until December to have a “clear commitment to remediation, with a start and finish date agreed”.
He added: “Where no such safety assurance or plan has been brought forward by the end of December, building owners can expect enforcement action to be taken.”
Current housing secretary Robert Jenrick reaffirmed this promise to Inside Housing in October.
The updated figures also showed that a number of high-rise social buildings are set to be demolished, despite having started remediation works. In the social sector two buildings that have started remediation, which have vacated their residents, are due to be demolished.
In the private sector five buildings have vacated their residents with an intent to remediate.
There are approximately 7,600 dwellings in the social sector residential buildings that are yet to be remediated and up to 17,100 dwellings in the private sector yet to be remediated.
In May, Mr Brokenshire announced a £200m private cladding fund to speed up the rate of remediation on privately owned blocks. To secure funding through the scheme, building owners have to apply to the government for money.
According to this month’s building safety figures, of the 86 blocks in scope for fund, not one block has had applications for full costs approved, with only one having support for a pre-contract approved.
Of the remaining blocks, 67 are preparing an application, eight have submitted an eligibility application, two have had eligibility approved and three have submitted applications for full costs. The MHCLG has not yet had any contact with delivery partners on five blocks.
