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Work to remove Grenfell-style cladding from private blocks stalls

Work to replace dangerous Grenfell-style cladding from the country’s private residential towers has stalled, with remediation work not starting on any new blocks in the past two-and-a-half months.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Work to remove Grenfell-style cladding from private blocks stalls #ukhousing

Latest government building safety figures revealed that cladding had been fully removed from five private residential blocks as of 30 November, with work having started on nine blocks.

The 14 blocks on which work has been completed or started marks no change from figures in September, when work had started on 12 buildings and two had seen remediation completed.

It means no new work has started on affected private blocks this autumn.

Last month Inside Housing reported that developer Mace had to delay the removal of cladding from its £225m Greenwich Square project due to a lack of government clarity on what replacement materials it could use.


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Mace was the second developer to halt re-cladding work due to a lack of government guidance, after the start of work was also delayed on the Citiscape tower in Croydon earlier this summer for the same reason.

Last week the government made amendments to building regulations which banned the use of combustible materials for buildings over 18 metres and set out clearer guidelines on what materials can and can’t be used.

It also revealed that it would provide financial support to local authorities to force building owners to remove cladding, while also extending authorities powers to strip the cladding off these buildings.

However, council figures have told Inside Housing that the re-cladding work could take months if not years and the costs could still fall onto leaseholders.

 

The latest government figures did reveal that the number of private blocks without plans for remediation dropped from 70 to 50 over the past month. There were 86 buildings where a remediation plan was absent in September.

There are currently 73 private residential buildings where a remediation plan is in place, while 46 have reported an intent to remediate and are developing plans.

In the social sector, a total of 34 out of 160 blocks have now seen their cladding fully removed, while work has started on 82 blocks.

A further 41 towers have a remediation plan in place, while three have reported an intent to remediate and develop plans.

The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government was contacted for comment.

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