End Our Cladding Scandal campaign relaunches with 10-step plan to tackle mounting crisis
Inside Housing has joined with Grenfell survivors and residents of blocks with dangerous cladding to relaunch the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, calling on government to take “urgent, national” action to fix the spiralling crisis.
The campaign, backed by a range of sector bodies including the Chartered Institute of Housing and the National Housing Federation, makes 10 demands of government based on the recommendations of a Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee report published in June.
Developed in co-ordination with Grenfell Tower survivors and bereaved group Grenfell United and close to a dozen cladding action groups across the UK, the campaign is being launched today jointly by Inside Housing and The Sunday Times.
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At its heart is a call to the government to take a proactive stance in leading a national effort to fix the crisis of dangerous cladding and to forward fund necessary remediation work, reclaiming the cost from those responsible or via a levy on new development.
This is modelled on a successful approach pioneered in Victoria, Australia, which faces a similar cladding crisis to the UK.
The campaign is backed by politicians from across the political spectrum, including Labour mayors of London and Greater Manchester Sadiq Khan and Andy Burnham and Conservative mayor of the West Midlands Andy Street.
It comes amid a crisis which has emerged since the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, and has seen a reported 2,957 buildings register for funding to remove a range of dangerous materials from their walls, on top of the 458 that required removal of the aluminium composite material used on Grenfell Tower – of which 291 remain unfixed.
Together, this is 28% of all the high-rise buildings in England and account for the homes of an estimated 700,000 people.
On top of this, an estimated 1.5 million modern flats are currently unmortgagable because they cannot confirm that the materials used on their walls are safe, leaving 3.6 million people unable to sell their homes.
10 steps to End Our Cladding Scandal
Based on the recommendations of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and backed by a range of sector bodies and MPs from across the political spectrum, these are Inside Housing’s 10 steps to End Our Cladding Scandal:
- The government must lead an urgent national effort to remove all dangerous cladding from buildings by June 2022.
- The Building Safety Fund must cover all buildings, regardless of height, and a range of internal and external fire safety defects, not just cladding.
- The government should provide the money up front and then seek to recover it from any responsible parties or via a temporary levy on development.
- Social housing providers must have full and equal access to the fund.
- The government must compel building owners or managers to be honest with residents about fire safety defects.
- The government should cover the cost of interim safety measures.
- The government should act as an insurer of last resort and underwrite insurance where premiums have soared.
- A fairer, faster process is needed to replace the EWS form and funding is necessary to ensure all buildings requiring a form are surveyed within 12 months.
- Mental health support must be offered to affected residents.
- Protecting residents from historic and future costs must be a key commitment of new building safety legislation.
Martin Hilditch, editor of Inside Housing, said: “The scale of this crisis demands a national response. More than three years on from Grenfell, it is well past time for the government to do the right thing and act before the next disaster occurs.
“The 10-step plan we are presenting today has cross-party support and the endorsement of the housing sector. It asks for bold and decisive action from government but that is nothing less than what is required to prevent a repeat of the worst tower block fire in this country's history.”
Mr Khan said: “The Grenfell Tower fire should have been the tragic wake-up call ministers needed to improve building safety. Instead, more than three years on, thousands of Londoners continue to live in unsafe accommodation, dealing with the stress and uncertainty of building owners dragging their feet and the Government failing to take responsibility.
“I welcome the work carried out by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and I’m proud to back Inside Housing’s campaign to end our cladding scandal.”
Mr Burnham added: “Three years after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, thousands of people in Greater Manchester and across the country are still trapped in unsafe flats and facing huge bills. To leave people in limbo in this way is quite simply a shameful state of affairs.
“We will continue to support the Manchester Cladiators and the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign in any way we can and fully endorse this new 10-point plan. It is time for the government to end the cladding nightmare that is blighting so many lives and turn words into action.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, added: “Three years on from the Grenfell fire – which caused the greatest loss of life from a fire in Britain since World War II – people up and down the country continue to live in homes with unsafe materials. This crisis must end.
“The government must lead a national, co-ordinated fire safety programme to prioritise works on buildings that are most at risk, while ensuring there are enough experts and resources to complete all safety works.”
Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, said: “While the government has pledged a Building Safety Fund to support the removal of unsafe cladding, action has not been swift or targeted enough. Government needs to take action to co-ordinate an approach that ensures that no one continues to leave in fear in their homes.”
It comes as lawyers acting for Grenfell survivors and bereaved sent a letter to The Sunday Times calling for swifter action to remove dangerous cladding and supporting the campaign.
Michael Mansfield QC, writing on behalf of the lawyers’ group, said in the letter: “We are taking the unusual step in common with other groups, nationwide, of drawing attention to the absence of any urgent implementation of the Inquiry recommendations published last autumn.
“The most urgent and obvious need is the immediate removal of all combustible cladding facades from residential and other buildings.”
The relaunch marks the third iteration of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign which first began in April last year, with funding for private sector blocks made available by ministers around two weeks later.
It then relaunched in November, during the election campaign, and called for a wider Building Safety Fund – an ask that was partially delivered in the Spring Budget.
An MHCLG spokesperson said:"We’re making homes safer, providing £1.6bn to get unsafe cladding off homes and bringing forward the most significant building safety improvements in almost 40 years.
“Progress is being made with work complete or under way in more than 70% of buildings with ACM cladding, rising to above 90% in the social housing sector.”
End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign backers
Organisations:
- Grenfell United
- Resident cladding action groups: UK Cladding Action Group, Manchester Cladiators, Leeds Cladding Scandal, Birmingham Leaseholder Action Group, London Cladding Action Group, Liverpool Cladiators, One Housing Action Group, Homeowners of L&Q, Richmond House Residents and others
- A collective of lawyers representing Grenfell Tower families at the public inquiry
- The Sunday Times
- Shelter
- Fire Brigades Union
- Royal Institute of British Architects
- Chartered Institute of Housing
- National Housing Federation
- Unison
- National Leasehold Campaign
- Leasehold Knowledge Partnership
- Engage Liverpool
- Federation of Private Residents Associations
- Institute of Residential Property Management
Individuals and experts:
- TV presenter Kevin McCloud
- TV presenter Phil Spencer
- Architect George Clarke
- Actor and comedian Kathy Burke
- Actor Carey Mulligan
- Singer/songwriter Marcus Mumford
- Hip hop artist and campaigner Lowkey
- West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster
- Actor Ross Mullan (Game of Thrones)
- Leilani Farha, dormer UN special rapporteur for housing
- Jonathan Evans, chief executive of Ash & Lacy
- Building Safety Register co-founder Matt Hodges-Long
- Professor Sue Bright
- Executive coach Gill Kernick
- Safety consultant Stephen MacKenzie
- Safety consultant Phil Murphy
- Architect Francis Maria Peacock
- Chris Blythe OBE, former chief executive of the CIOB
- Solicitor Giles Peaker
Politicians:
- Andy Street, metro mayor of West Midlands (Conservative)
- Sadiq Khan, mayor of London (Labour)
- Andy Burnham, mayor of Greater Manchester (Labour)
- Steve Rotheram, metro mayor of Liverpool City Region (Labour)
- Mike Amesbury MP, shadow housing minister (Labour)
- Matthew Pennycook MP (Labour)
- Kim Johnson MP (Labour)
- Shabana Mahmood MP (Labour)
- Liam Byrne MP (Labour)
- Ian Byrne MP (Labour)
- Abena Oppong-Asare MP (Labour)
- Margaret Hodge MP (Labour)
- Ruth Cadbury MP (Labour)
- Apsana Begum MP (Labour)
- Rushanara Ali MP (Labour)
- Sam Tarry MP (Labour)
- Mohammed Yasin MP (Labour)
- Lucy Powell MP (Labour)
- Rebecca Long-Bailey MP (Labour)
- Justin Madders MP (Labour)
- Florence Eshalomi MP (Labour)
- Sam Terry MP (Labour)
- Jeff Smith MP (Labour)
- Mohammed Yasin MP (Labour)
- Meg Hillier MP (Labour)
- Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP (Labour)
- Feryal Clark MP (Labour)
- John Cruddas MP (Labour)
- Virendra Sharma MP (Labour)
- Graham Stringer MP (Labour)
- Diane Abbott MP (Labour)
- Andrew Mitchell MP (Conservative)
- Sir Peter Bottomley MP (Conservative)
- Bob Neil MP (Conservative)
- Bob Blackman MP (Conservative)
- Anne Marie Morris MP (Conservative)
- Stephen McPartland MP (Conservative)
- Matthew Offord MP (Conservative)
- Kevin Hollinrake MP (Conservative)
- Stephen Hammond MP (Conservative)
- Daisy Cooper MP (Liberal Democrat)
- Christine Jardine MP (Liberal Democrat)
- Sarah Olney MP (Liberal Democrat)
- Jamie Stone MP (Liberal Democrat)
- Caroline Lucas MP (Green)
Lord Young of Cookham (Conservative)
- Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative)
- Lord Gary Porter of Spalding (Conservative, former chair of the Local Government Association)
- Lord Shipley OBE (Liberal Democrat)
- Lord Stunnell OBE (Liberal Democrat)
- Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb (Green)
- Baroness Finlay of Llandaff (Crossbench)
- Cllr Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester Council (Labour)
- Cllr Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham Council (Labour)
- Philip Glanville, mayor of Hackney (Labour)
- Paul Dennett, mayor of Salford (Labour)
- Sian Berry AM (Green)
- Caroline Pidgeon AM (Liberal Democrat)
- Tom Copley AM, deputy mayor for housing (Labour)
- Leonie Cooper AM (Labour)
- Murad Qureshi AM (Labour)
- Andrew Dismore AM (Labour)
- Neil McEvoy MS (Labour)
- Cllr Jonathan Bartley (Green, co-leader)
- Cllr Douglas Johnson (Green)
- Cllr Suzanne Richards (Labour)
- Cllr Liz Clements (Labour)
- Cllr Maria Toolan (Labour)
- Cllr Christine Banks (Labour)
- Cllr Nick Small (Labour)
- Cllr Geoff Barraclough (Labour)
- Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg (Labour)
- Cllr Martin Whelton (Labour)
- Cllr Jon Connor-Lyons (Labour)
- Cllr Sam Wheeler (Labour)
- Cllr Marcus Johns (Labour)
- Cllr Adam Hug (Labour)
- Cllr Tony Belton (Labour)
- Cllr Zena Brabazon (Labour)
- Cllr Sara Conway (Labour)
- Cllr Mary Daly (Labour)
- Cllr Thomas Stephens (Labour)
- Cllr Krupesh Hirani (Labour)
- Cllr Sarah Bogle (Labour)
- Cllr Darren Paffey (Labour)
- Cllr Joan Davies (Labour)
- Cllr Sem Moema (Labour)
- Cllr Shama Tatler (Labour)
- Cllr Johnson Situ (Labour)
- Cllr Anne Clarke (Labour)
- Cllr Leo Pollak (Labour)
- Cllr James Roberts (Vice Chair of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority) (Labour)
- Cllr Annette Wright (Labour)
- Cllr Ken Wood (Conservative)
- Cllr Meirion Jenkins (Conservative)
- Cllr Robert Alden (Conservative)
- Cllr Peter Golds (Conservative)
- Cllr Michael Rutherford (Conservative)
- Cllr Edward Gretton (Conservative)
- Cllr Anton Georgiou (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Jayne McCoy (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Rabina Khan (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Ruth Dombey (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Anthony Fairclough (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Hina Bokhari (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Jenny Batt (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Ben Andrew (Liberal Democrat)
- Cllr Andrew Wood (independent, former Conservative)
End Our Cladding Scandal: what our supporters say
Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: “The Grenfell Tower fire should have been the tragic wake-up call ministers needed to improve building safety. Instead, more than three years on, thousands of Londoners continue to live in unsafe accommodation, dealing with the stress and uncertainty of building owners dragging their feet and the government failing to take responsibility.
“I welcome the work carried out by the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee and I’m proud to back Inside Housing’s campaign to end our cladding scandal.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham: “Three years after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, thousands of people in Greater Manchester and across the country are still trapped in unsafe flats and facing huge bills. To leave people in limbo in this way is quite simply a shameful state of affairs.
“In Greater Manchester, we established the High Rise Task Force to support our residents and campaign for change, including organising a lobby of Parliament. We will continue to support the Manchester Cladiators and the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign in any way we can and fully endorse this new 10-point plan. It is time for the government to end the cladding nightmare that is blighting so many lives and turn words into action.”
Kate Henderson, chief executive of the National Housing Federation: “Three years on from the Grenfell fire – which caused the greatest loss of life from a fire in Britain since World War II – people up and down the country continue to live in homes with unsafe materials. This crisis must end.
“The government must lead a national, co-ordinated fire safety programme to prioritise works on buildings that are most at risk, while ensuring there are enough experts and resources to complete all safety works. In the meantime, the government must find a viable solution which gives lenders confidence and allows people to sell and remortgage their homes.”
Grenfell United, a group of bereaved families and survivors from the fire: “It’s been three years since the fire that took the lives of our loved ones and neighbours. With this dangerous cladding still on buildings, all it will take is a simple kitchen fire to cause another Grenfell. It could happen at any moment.
“Only the government has the capacity to sort this mess out. They haven’t done enough and every month they stall, they are willingly leaving thousands of people in danger. Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick need to step up and make this right.”
Gavin Smart, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing: “The task of removing unsafe cladding from an at-risk building is huge – however, the impact on residents who are living in such blocks cannot be underestimated.
“While the government has pledged a Building Safety Fund to support the removal of unsafe cladding, action has not been swift or targeted enough. Government needs to take action to co-ordinate an approach that ensures that no one continues to leave in fear in their homes.”
Labour shadow housing minister Mike Amesbury: “Over three years on from Grenfell, where 72 people lost their lives, thousands of residents are living in flammable buildings in desperate circumstances. This cladding scandal is now at crisis point, people cannot secure mortgages, flats are unsellable, and waking watch and insurance premiums are beyond the means of leaseholders.
“This call is a call for urgent and decisive action from the government by campaigners up and down the land.”
Jane Duncan, chair of the expert advisory group on fire safety at the Royal Institute of British Architects: “The fact many thousands of people remain at financial risk and in fear for their lives because they are still living in buildings with dangerous combustible cladding is appalling.
“Alongside the extension of the Building Safety Fund, immediate measures must be taken to remediate these buildings and the Building Safety Bill must deliver to ensure no one has to experience such a disastrous ‘cladding scandal’ again.”
Michael Mansfield QC, representing a collective of lawyers working for Grenfell Tower families: “There are many more Grenfell fires waiting to happen. Thousands of citizens are at risk.
“After three years it is a disgrace that this risk has not been eradicated by the removal of all combustible cladding. With the advent of more lockdown, the message is clear and urgent: CLAD OFF!”
Matt Wrack, general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union: “Grenfell exposed the scandal of building safety in the UK, after years of ignored warnings from residents and firefighters.
“There are huge numbers of people trapped in dangerous homes desperate for help, but the government has consistently looked the other way, instead offering empty promises and ineffective policies.
“Serious action is needed to prevent another Grenfell happening again. That means going after those who have built and profited off these dangerous homes and ensuring that residents aren’t made to foot the bill for vital remediation work.
“We are already over three years since the tragic night of 14 June 2017, fixing the building safety crisis cannot wait any longer."
Actor and comedian Kathy Burke: “I fully back this campaign. After the horror of Grenfell, which the whole world bore witness to, I find it absolutely terrifying and quite frankly inhumane that people are still living in extremely dangerous buildings without any financial help in making them safe for now or for the future.”
Christina McAnea, assistant general secretary at Unison: “The pandemic has exposed the inadequacy of the housing system and highlighted the importance of safe homes. Yet, three years on after Grenfell, thousands of families are still trapped in unsafe homes. This includes public service workers who are working hard to support communities and protect lives.
“The Grenfell Tower tragedy must not be forgotten, nor must justice for the families whose lives have been affected. Unison supports the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, which calls for robust measures to make homes safe so that no one is left behind.”
