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Javid rows back on number of tower blocks with ACM cladding
The government has quietly revised the number of tower blocks that have aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, the same used on Grenfell Tower.
In a written statement to parliament yesterday the communities secretary said the government now thinks there are no more than 240 tower blocks with ACM cladding, significantly down from 530 towers.
Mr Javid also criticised housing associations for taking too long to send cladding samples to be tested. He said five weeks is “too long” to still be investigating and there is “no excuse” for any housing association not to have completed its investigations.
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“Local authorities and housing associations initially told us that around 530 towers were thought to have similar cladding to that seen at Grenfell. They have subsequently been physically inspecting the wall materials present on their buildings, and have collected further information which suggests that the actual number of towers that have ACM is much lower,” Mr Javid said.
“Based on the most recent information we have received, we now think that no more than 240 local authority and housing association towers have ACM cladding and so need to be tested.”
The new estimates suggest there are 46 council-owned towers and 194 housing association-owned towers that have ACM cladding.
Out of the 194 housing association towers 142 have been tested through the Building Research Establishment (BRE) or have taken cladding down.
There are 12 towers where landlords have said they will send samples to the BRE this week. There are 40 towers owned by housing associations that have not confirmed whether ACM cladding is on their blocks or sent samples to be tested.
Mr Javid said some of these housing associations are still investigating the cladding on their towers.
He added: “Five weeks is too long to still be investigating. We expect these investigations to be complete and relevant samples sent for testing immediately. There is no excuse for any housing association not to have completed its investigation of cladding materials.”
