Plans are in place to remove and replace dangerous cladding from just a quarter of privately-owned housing blocks, according to the latest government statistics.
In a written statement given to Parliament yesterday, the recently-appointed Housing Minister Kit Malthouse said as of 12 July the Government knows of 301 private buildings with cladding systems that are unlikely to meet current building regulations.
Mr Malthouse said of these 301 buildings, local authorities have told ministers about plans to remove and replace cladding on 77 buildings.
Of these, 23 have started remediation work and just four have been completed the work.
The latest set of figures from the Government’s Building Safety Programme, which were also released yesterday show the cladding status on 100 private sector buildings is “still to be confirmed”.
According to the figures, a total of 474 tower blocks and publicly-owned buildings with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding are unlikely to meet current building regulations.
Of these 320 have failed BRE tests and 154 private buildings have been identified as having similar ACM cladding systems to those which have failed large-scale tests.
Mr Malthouse added in the written statement that a new taskforce is being established to actively oversee the remediation of private sector buildings with ACM cladding systems.
“The taskforce will be charged with ensuring that remediation plans are put in place swiftly across all private sector buildings with ACM cladding systems, and addressing any barriers or identifying any additional support required to achieve this. We have not ruled out any options for enforcing remediation,” said Mr Malthouse.
“Local authorities have strong and effective powers to deal with poor quality unsafe accommodation and they have a statutory duty to keep housing conditions in their areas under review.
“They should take enforcement action against owners of buildings in their areas that are not acting responsibly in respect of hazards, and we encourage them to use these powers to the fullest to ensure residents are safe,” added the Minister.
To read the latest update of the Government’s Building Safety Programme, click here:
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