Research identifies 14 cladded tower blocks in London
Snap Inside Housing research has identified 14 tower blocks of more than 15 storeys in London with some form of cladding.
The research, which is not exhaustive, showed seven tower blocks in Greenwich, Newham, Islington, Lewisham and Tower Hamlets were clad with fire-safe materials such as Permarock – which is made of a metal frame with a mineral core. The towers in Greenwich were clad with a class zero rated Funder Max Exterior Cladding Panels.
However, it was not possible to identify the material used in seven other towers; Daubeney Tower and Hawke Tower in Lewisham; and five towers on the Chalcots Estate in Camden.
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The other councils have been contacted to confirm what material was used. Yesterday, the government announced testing had identified seven tower blocks in England with the same cladding as Grenfell, and 600 with cladding of some form.
The research came as Islington Council put on hold plans to install cladding on four properties: Ilex House, Gambier House, Haliday House and Arlington House. The cladding in question, Equitone, is not an aluminium composite, but is made from cement and mineral fibres.
This week it was also revealed that Harpenmead Point, Templewood Point and Granville Point in Barnet are all clad in the same material used at Grenfell, according to the local authority. However, additional fire safety measures, including fire breaks, are in place.
The news comes as the government has ordered social landlords to carry out an urgent audit of 4,000 tower blocks in England, to check the external cladding and fire safety.
This included listing how many blocks have more than six storeys, the number of residents, and details of any refurbishments carried out in the past 15 years, particularly if these included the addition of external cladding.
Any tower blocks found to have aluminium composite material panels will be tested by the Building Research Establishment, which has been commissioned by government to carry out the work.
Many housing associations and councils told Inside Housing they were re-checking the cladding on tower blocks and carrying out urgent fire safety checks in the aftermath of the fire anyway.
Update on 12.7.2017
Greenwich Council contacted Inside Housing specifying the type of material used in its cladding and this story was updated accordingly
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