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Khan writes to 51 private and social landlords over ‘unacceptable’ pace of Grenfell-style cladding removal
The mayor of London has written to more than 50 social and private landlords in the capital, demanding they “accelerate” their plans to remove and replace aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding.
A total of 47 private building owners, alongside four social landlords, have received a letter from Sadiq Khan, criticising them for the speed in which they are undertaking remediation work.
All recipients of the letter have had funding applications approved for the government’s social and private sector ACM cladding remediation funds but have failed to begin the work to remove dangerous cladding.
When asked by Inside Housing for the names of the landlords that were written to, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office said: "We are unable to release the list of companies receiving these letters for safety reasons and to protect residents, as the buildings are owned by companies whose name would identify the building."
In the letter, Mr Khan wrote: “More than three years after the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower, I am deeply worried to see the number of buildings in London that still have unsafe ACM cladding.
“Given the high risk that unsafe ACM presents to residents and visitors, it is unacceptable that remediating buildings is taking so long.”
The mayor asked all recipients to provide their case worker in the Greater London Authority’s building safety or area teams with a written update on their remediation plans, including up-to-date milestones and cost estimates.
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He said: “I have always made it clear that the safety of residents is the absolute priority. I am sure you will agree that providing residents with real certainty, clear progress and a firm date for the completion of these works is vital.”
Latest data from the government showed that there are still 10 social high rises and 102 private high rises where work to remove and replace ACM cladding, which was the type of cladding used on the Grenfell Tower, has yet to begin.
The mayor’s letter comes ahead of the London Building Safety Action Summit, during which Mr Khan will call on the government to cover the costs of waking watches and other interim fire safety measures in ACM-clad buildings.
He will also urge to government to clarify what enforcement mechanisms will be available to penalise building owners who have failed to make their building safe and put more resources into the Joint Inspection Team set up by the government to assist local authorities with the removal of ACM cladding in their area.
