Dangerous combustible cladding panels which exposes residents to unacceptable fire risks is being replaced so slowly that it could take until 2029 before all affected buildings are fixed.
The claim is being made by the Labour Party. According to official figures, 220 high-rise tower blocks are yet to be made completely safe, and the majority of them are still wrapped in dangerous aluminium composite material (ACM) panels.
Over the last eight months privately owned towers have been fixed at a rate of 1.2 per month, and 80 blocks have still not started remediation works. Social housing blocks are being fixed at the rate of just over two per month, and there are seven where nothing has happened yet.
The shadow housing minister, Thangam Debbonaire, said the current rate of progress meant the Government was on course to miss its original targets for fixing the cladding crisis by almost a decade.
Back in July 2019, James Brokenshire the Housing Secretary at the time, said he expected building owners to complete remediation work by June 2020. In September this year, the Government said it expected all unsafe ACM cladding to be removed by the end of this year, with remedial works finished by the end of 2021.
“The Government’s lack of action over the last three years to tackle the building safety crisis has left thousands trapped unsafe homes,” Debbonaire told the Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, in a letter.
“The only thing that will fix the issue is a long-term solution to the remediation of buildings. It is increasingly clear that the size and scope of the building safety fund is nowhere near sufficient to ensure that all tall buildings are made safe. The Government must urgently bring forward a long-term solution for external wall remediation which protects leaseholders.”
Leaseholders have been left unable to sell their properties because mortgage companies are requiring checks on external wall systems before they lend, and there is a shortage of surveyors to do the checks. Additionally some qualified assessors have been unable to obtain professional indemnity insurance to undertake the job.
“The property checking process is not working and millions of families across the country are in limbo as a result,” said Debbonaire, calling for a faster and fairer process that prioritises the buildings most at risk.
So far the Government has made £600m available for the removal of ACM panels, and a further £1bn to tackle other fire safety problems in high-rise blocks discovered since Grenfell. The public accounts committee has suggested the repair fund needs to be much larger, with up to £3.5bn likely to be needed.
In total, the government estimates that more than 2,000 high-rise buildings need to be fixed because of various types of dangerous cladding – which also includes high-pressure laminate panels – plus the discovery of previously hidden problems that could allow fire to spread.
By Patrick Mooney, Editor