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Cladding leaseholders call for government help following coronavirus outbreak

Leaseholders in buildings clad with flammable materials have issued a statement calling on the government to provide support with the cost of interim safety measures as the coronavirus crisis mounts.

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Picture: Peter Apps
Picture: Peter Apps
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Leaseholders in buildings clad with flammable materials have issued a statement calling on the government to provide support with the cost of interim safety measures as the coronavirus crisis mounts #ukhousing

Cladding leaseholders call for government help following coronavirus outbreak #ukhousing

The statement, issued jointly by a variety of cladding action groups around the UK, called on ministers to assist with the costs of waking watches, which can reach £1,000 per month for every flat.

The service, which sees wardens patrol the building at all hours to check for fire, is a mandatory requirement of many fire authorities to keep buildings occupied.

But the cost of keeping it in place is met by leaseholders in many private sector buildings, and as people self-isolate and give up work due to the pandemic, the costs will become even less bearable.


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In a joint statement the Birmingham Leasehold Action Group, Leeds Cladding Scandal, Manchester Cladiators and the UK Cladding Action Group said: “The COVID-19 outbreak is the biggest public health challenge for a generation. We acknowledge the huge strain this rapidly changing crisis will place on government and the number of people who will require support as a result of it.

“Nonetheless, the situation is particularly critical for many leaseholders in buildings with dangerous cladding. The huge additional and ongoing costs that many leaseholders have to pay as a result of living in dangerous cladding blocks means they face an impossible decision about work and self-isolation. No income means no ability to pay for the waking watch the building needs for them to stay in that building

“As these costs are not currently within the scope of the £1bn fund announced at last week’s Budget, additional help is urgently required. For us, self-isolating means returning to a building which is a potential death trap. With many more people working at home or not able to work at all, they will be spending much more time in buildings where there are grave concerns about safety.”

The waking watch costs are in addition to soaring insurance premiums at many buildings, neither of which are covered. The £1bn announced at last week’s Budget is limited to cladding removal only.

There are hundreds of buildings across the country with waking watches in places – more than 300 have aluminium composite material cladding and hundreds of others have dangerous materials of other kinds.

Inside Housing’s End Our Cladding Scandal campaign calls for a building safety fund to cover interim measures as well as removal work.

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End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign asks

End Our Cladding Scandal: campaign asks

The next government must:

  • Create a ‘building safety fund’ to help pay for the necessary remediation work to affected buildings in the social and private sector – not just those with ACM cladding and above 18m
  • Set up a taskforce, with the involvement of residents, capable of inspecting buildings, prioritising and ordering work and ensuring leaseholders are protected from unnecessary costs
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