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Labour calls for buildings to be confiscated from owners if Grenfell-style cladding not removed
Owners of private blocks with Grenfell-style cladding should be made to replace it in the next six months or risk having the building confiscated, the Labour Party has said.
The radical proposal, unveiled in the week of the second anniversary of the Grenfell Tower fire, is part of a five-point plan aimed at forcing private owners of potentially dangerous tower blocks to take action.
Labour is urging the government to name and shame private owners with blocks still wrapped in aluminium composite material (ACM).
A total of 164 private blocks out of 175 identified as having ACM cladding have yet to be fixed, latest data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government shows.
At nearly half of these, the owners do not have a plan in place to carry out remediation work.
Labour said if “substantial progress” has not been made by the end of the year, councils should be given the powers to issue fines or confiscate any at-risk property.
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Labour sources told Inside Housing councils would not be forced to take action but from conversations with Labour-controlled authorities the party is confident they would welcome the powers.
The Local Government Association declined to comment.
Last month, housing secretary James Brokenshire launched a £200m fund to help get ACM removed from private blocks. On the day of the announcement he attacked private firms for “dragging their feet”.
However some have questioned whether £200m will be enough as fears mount over the number of buildings covered in non-ACM yet potentially dangerous cladding, such as high-pressure laminate (HPL).
Around 60,000 residents in ACM blocks alone remain at risk, with around a third of those in social housing blocks, Labour estimates.
John Healey, Labour’s shadow housing secretary, said: “Many private tower block owners have shown zero sign of replacing their Grenfell-style cladding, and government ministers are letting them drag their feet.”
He pointed out that some concerned residents have to pay for fire safety measures, such as 24-hour waking watches.
He added: “Enough is enough. Private block owners should be made to replace this dangerous cladding, or face councils taking over ownership of these buildings to get this vital safety work done.”
Labour’s full five-point plan:
- Name and shame block owners with dangerous cladding.
- Set a December deadline for block owners to get work done, or prove there has been substantial progress.
- Update the sanctions available to councils under the Housing Act 2004 to include fines followed by confiscation of blocks that still have dangerous cladding.
- Make government funding already set aside for cladding remediation on private blocks available for councils who take over blocks with dangerous cladding.
- Widen the government-sponsored testing regime to comprehensively test non-ACM as well as ACM cladding, including on private blocks.
