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Housing associations discover same cladding as Grenfell Tower
A number of housing associations have discovered aluminium composite material (ACM) panels on their blocks and have sent samples to the government to be tested.
ACM, the cladding that was on Grenfell Tower, has been found at Orchard Village, a new build development owned by Clarion Housing Group which was criticised in parliament after residents raised concerns that their homes were poorly built.
However, a letter sent to Orchard Village residents said the cladding on the development is not the same as the cladding used on Grenfell Tower. When questioned specifically on this a Clarion spokesperson said: "The cladding is ACM but it isn’t Reynobond, which was used at Grenfell, so not the same." Reynobond is a brand of ACM cladding.
Inside Housing has been requesting information from social landlords, both councils and housing associations, about their cladding.
Gentoo, Thirteen and Network Homes have tower blocks with ACM cladding.
Gentoo’s panels have failed the Building Research Establishment’s test and they are now pulling down the cladding from five tower blocks in Sunderland. A spokesperson said these were a “very small amount of decorative panels”.
Ian Wardle, chief executive of Thirteen Group, said the association had specified that the cladding should be fire retardant. He said work to remove the cladding “will begin as soon as physically possible”.
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Network Homes has one tower block that has ACM cladding. A spokesperson said the London Fire Brigade had carried out a full inspection of the building over the weekend and had confirmed that it does not need to be evacuated because it has “multiple up-to-date fire safety features”.
Colin Nickless, a resident at Orchard Village who has raised concerns about fire safety at the development for a number of years, said: “This morning we saw a delivery of fire-proof insulation boarding being delivered to the estate. We understand that they are going ahead and they are doing what they should have done five years ago.
“It’s a shame that it has taken something like Grenfell for this to happen but we still have a lot of concerns. One of the biggest concerns is we don’t believe the houses are built properly and that compromises the stay put policy.”
A spokesperson for Clarion said: “ACM has been used at Orchard Village and therefore we will be sending samples to [the Building Research Establishment], however the cladding has been installed with horizontal fire barriers on each level with an intumescent tape to prevent spread vertically and Rockwool fire socks on vertical elevations from ground to roof level to prevent spread.
“Orchard Village is a new scheme and its tallest building is six storeys tall, which means there is no habitable space that cannot be reached by firefighting apparatus. There are a range of fire safety measures in communal areas at Orchard Village, including automatic opening vents, dry riser systems, fire doors and car park ventilation with contracts in place to maintain and regularly test these.
“Last week the London Fire Brigade visited Orchard Village and confirmed they are happy with our approach to fire safety at the estate.”
