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Housing associations face being stuck with dangerous cladding on leased blocks
Housing associations may be stuck with dangerous cladding on blocks of flats leased from private owners.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, ministers have pledged to fund the removal and replacement of cladding deemed unsafe on social housing high rises, at an estimated cost of £400m.
However, the cash is only available for buildings owned by housing associations or local authorities.
That means in affected blocks where housing associations lease flats, they will need to ask the private owner to pay for the work.
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Lucy Grove, Grenfell programme lead at the National Housing Federation (NHF) said: “It’s difficult to say exact numbers of blocks but I think it’s not an insignificant problem.
“We also understand there has been a varied response from private owners. Some of our members have reported really positive experiences with the building owner being proactive and reasonable in their response to tackling unsafe cladding.
“However, for a number of other housing associations the situation has been far more challenging.”
The NHF said it is working with government to “press for action to support the remediation of these buildings”.
One housing association chief executive, who preferred not to be named, confirmed their organisation faces this situation at one block.
“It appears if a provider has got a leasehold interest but doesn’t have the freehold interest they won’t qualify for the money. This looks like quite a significant flaw in the plan,” the chief executive said.
“It’s very, very difficult sometimes to get the freeholder to pay and it could get litigious. I would be stunned if we are the only people in this position.”
Some affected housing associations are understood to lease and manage nearly all parts of the blocks in question.
This arrangement will likely exist where an association has bought the units from the developer through a ‘Section 106’ deal for affordable housing.
At New Capital Quay, in south-east London, Hyde Housing Group owns 340 of 960 homes and is the sole leaseholder of two of the 12 blocks.
The development is one of the largest in the country to have Grenfell-style cladding and a long dispute over who should pay for its removal was only resolved this week when warranty provider the National House Building Council agreed to foot the bill.
At the latest count, there are an estimated 297 privately owned high rises with dangerous cladding in England, with only four stripped in the 13 months since Grenfell and work started on just 17.
Leaseholders in many of these blocks are facing huge bills from the owners to make their homes safe.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government said: “Public safety is paramount – that is why we’re ensuring fire and rescue services are working with building owners to put measures in place so residents are safe now.
“To accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding we’ve announced a new taskforce to oversee remediation in the private sector and an inspection team to ensure building owners take the necessary action.”
