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Morning Briefing: Grenfell cladding fails new test

Cladding materials used on Grenfell Tower have failed the government’s latest tests

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Morning Briefing: Grenfell cladding fails new test

In the news

Newsnight has obtained results from the first test in the new government’s testing programme, on the specific array of materials used on the walls of Grenfell Tower.

In the government’s test, these materials were arranged in a model wall with proper fire breaks and other precautions in place, so there could be no doubt over improper installation. Newsnight reports that the wall burned quickly and failed the test.

In Kensington, meanwhile, local residents have been told that a process of covering the tower will begin within three weeks, but will take until mid-Autumn to complete, The Guardian reports.

Fire safety in other boroughs continues to be a sore topic, as John Healey, shadow secretary of state for housing, brands Sajid Javid “clueless”, speaking to The Huffington Post.

The secretary of state told parliament a week ago that no councils had asked for financial support over fire safety, despite several councils telling Inside Housing before this that they had done just that.

The Sun is even reporting that housing minister Alok Sharma actually replied to a request for funding from Croydon Council two days before Mr Javid’s statement.

Despite Mr Sharma sitting next to Mr Javid during the statement, however, the government says the secretary of state was “not aware” of the letters.

Elsewhere, The Guardian has a report from Savills finding that the global financial crisis is “still shaping the UK housing market”, with homeowners struggling to move up the property ladder, first-time buyer deposit doubling, and a “huge gap” between London and the rest of the country.

On social media

Twitter has been having fun with the new photo portraits of MPs, including former chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Architecture and Planning Peter Aldous…

…John Redwood, who has repeatedly pushed for the creation of an eco-city in the Thames Gateway…

…and Ben Wallace, for whom I couldn’t find a tenuous housing connection but whose caption is very funny…

What’s on

Tonight at 9, ITV is airing a documentary about the experiences of the firefighters who went into Grenfell Tower to save residents from the blaze.

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