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Sector calls for government action over cladding delays
The government should help housing associations with delayed work removing cladding, sector figures have said.
The government announced this week that of the 301 buildings that need cladding removed, work has been completed on only seven.
Lucy Grove, Grenfell programme lead at the National Housing Federation (NHF), said: “Some housing associations are experiencing problems with accessing fire safety tests, lengthy waits on new materials and problems accessing qualified professionals such as expert cladders.
“Government should lead a national, co-ordinated response to ensure that resources and capacity are directed strategically and buildings most at risk are prioritised.”
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According to the prospectus it posted for its recent £500m bond issue, London’s largest housing association, L&Q, has identified buildings containing 909 homes that need cladding removed.
It announced in July that it had set aside £50m over three years to pay for fire safety work. Nevertheless, the association has faced delays.
John Startup, building surveyor at L&Q, told Inside Housing: “The delays are around trying to agree what systems to put back. We’re having to do ‘belt and braces’ on the ones we’re doing, because nobody’s given us too much idea about what will pass.
“The last thing we would want to do would be to replace some of this stuff and then guidance comes out in the future that it’s frowned upon.”
Paul Hackett, chair of the G15 group of London housing associations, added: “I would support the NHF’s stance.
“I am aware that there have been concerns around specifying replacement materials and big concerns around legal liability for removal of material, replacement of material and who pays.”
Brendan Sarsfield, chief executive of Peabody, told Inside Housing: “We’ve experienced delays because there are a lot of people wanting experts and cladding solutions. It’s a bottleneck. I welcome what the NHF is saying but I’m not sure what can be done.”
A Notting Hill Housing spokesperson said: “A national response to ensure building control bodies have the capacity and direction to approve safe designs in the absence of system-specific test results would speed up the cladding replacement process.”
Update: at 17.45 on 28.2.18 This story was updated to include a quotation from Brendan Sarsfield.
