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Government has no estimate on how long cladding removal will take

The government has no estimate for how long it will take to strip dangerous Grenfell-style cladding systems from more than 350 towers across England.

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Government has no estimate on how long cladding removal will take #ukhousing

Since the fire at Grenfell Tower in June 2017, 457 high rises have been identified with aluminium composite material cladding systems which are known to be dangerous.

Among these, the systems are still present on 361 buildings, with removal work not even started on 263. For 88, there is not even yet a remediation plan in place.


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Responding to a written question about how long the process would take yesterday, housing minister Kit Malthouse said: “Remediation of buildings with unsafe aluminium composite material cladding systems is a complex process and remediation work involves addressing any issues with the exterior cladding system and broader fire safety systems for each building. For these reasons it is not possible to predict when remediation will be fully completed.”

He had been asked by Labour MP Steve Reed to set out any estimate the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had made regarding the timescale.

Mr Reed said: “It is a disgrace that over 18 months after the tragedy at Grenfell that there are still over 350 high rise blocks with flammable cladding on them and, to top it off, the government doesn’t have any idea how long it will be until these are made safe.

“The government must get a grip on the situation and make all of these homes safe.”

While the government has funded remediation work in the social housing sector, it has told private building owners it expects them to pay and given limited enforcement powers to local authorities to make the owners of around 50 blocks put plans in place.

But these powers have proved limited in effect so far, with one building owner of a block in Kent laughing them off as an “empty threat”.

In Tower Hamlets, east London it emerged this week that residents have been given an ultimatum by developer Ballymore to accept a bridging loan and a contribution to the removal work within two weeks – or face paying themselves.

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