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Cladding removed from six more blocks

Dangerous Grenfell-style cladding was removed from six more tower blocks last month, leaving 354 buildings still needing work.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Dangerous Grenfell-style cladding was removed from six more tower blocks last month, leaving 354 buildings still needing work #ukhousing

The latest Building Safety Programme figures from the government showed that there are now 79 high-rise residential and public buildings in England that have had Grenfell-style cladding removed.

These towers had aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, the same kind that was used on Grenfell Tower, where a huge fire killed 72 people in 2017.

During February, remediation work was completed on one social housing tower block, three private residential buildings and two blocks of student accommodation.


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This progress means that there are now 117 social housing tower blocks, 163 private residential buildings, 34 blocks of student accommodations, 31 hotels and nine public non-housing buildings that still require work.

Although the programme has been providing monthly updates since December 2017, there are still 32 social housing tower blocks with dangerous ACM cladding where work has not started and one where plans have not even been made.

Of the 228 private sector buildings needing work, a mere 18 have started remediation – 127 have a plan but have not started, 35 are developing plans and for 48, according to the release, “remediation plans remain unclear”.

Although the government has used this line in its updates to describe these buildings, Theresa May said in January that these building owners are “refusing” to remove dangerous cladding.

The numbers of high-rise buildings needing cladding removed and replaced could be set to rise significantly as other types of cladding are called into question.

The government plans to start tests this month on zinc composite material, copper composite material, aluminium honeycomb, high-pressure laminates, brick slip systems and reconstituted stone.

Housing minister Kit Malthouse has already said that if the materials are found to be as dangerous as ACM, the government will seek to remove it from existing buildings.

The testing process, however, has already been mired in controversy, with experts expressing “grave concern” about the unconventional form of the tests, which will have no success or failure criteria.