• Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • ABOUT US
  • WORK FOR US
  • HSEQ
  • NEWS
Tel: 02380 675888 | Email: [email protected]
Broadsword Group
  • PROJECTS
  • RESIDENTIAL
  • SCREEDING
  • INTERIOR FIT OUT
  • FIRE PROTECTION
  • OTHER SERVICES
    • DRY LINING
    • SUSPENDED CEILINGS
    • SOLID PARTITIONING
    • RENDERING
    • SECONDARY FRAMING SYSTEM
    • ACOUSTIC SOLUTIONS
    • GLAZED PARTITIONING
    • PLASTERING
    • FIRESTOPPING AND AIR SEALING
    • SECOND FIX CARPENTRY
    • ALL FLOOR COVERINGS
    • RAISED ACCESS FLOORING
  • CASE STUDIES
    • BOW SQUARE
    • OAKLEY HALL
    • PORTSEBURY SEN SCHOOL
    • THE BROOK CLUB
    • SPLASHPOINT LEISURE CENTRE
    • FOREST EDUCATION CENTRE
    • SANDPIPER WALK
    • BISHOPS OTTER CAMPUS
    • HINCHLEY WOOD SCHOOL
    • CEMAST
    • SCHOLARS GRANGE
    • SILVER SANDS COURT
    • BROADSWORD HEAD OFFICE
    • CONFIDENTIAL DATA CENTRE
    • BULMERSHE SCHOOL
  • GET IN TOUCH
  • Menu
fire

Government to pay £200m for safer cladding on Grenfell Tower

May 15, 2019/0 Comments/in Home Page news feed, News /by joannevickers

The £200m bill to replace Grenfell Tower-type cladding on about 150 private high-rise blocks in England is to be met by the government.

Housing Secretary James Brokenshire had previously said the bill should be footed by the owners, not the taxpayer.

But he said owners had been trying to offload the costs on to leaseholders and that the long wait for remedial work had caused anxiety for residents.

Leaseholder groups said the news would be a “relief” but more was needed.

Seventy-two people died when a fire destroyed Grenfell Tower, in west London, in June 2017, in one of the UK’s worst modern disasters.

It took minutes for the fire to race up the exterior of the building, and spread to all four sides.

A public inquiry into the fire heard evidence to support the theory that the highly combustible material in the cladding was the primary cause of the fire’s spread.

Latest government figures show that 166 private residential buildings out of the 176 identified with aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding – the same type used on Grenfell Tower – are yet to start work on removing and replacing it.

  • Unsafe cladding still affects thousands
  • Stars in emotional Grenfell cladding video
  • The terrible speed with which the Grenfell fire spread

Mr Brokenshire admitted he had changed his mind on demanding that freeholders pay up for safety work.

He said some building owners had tried to pass on the costs to residents by threatening them with bills running to thousands of pounds.

“What has been striking to me over recent weeks is just the time it is taking and my concern over the leaseholders themselves – that anxiety, that stress, that strain, and seeing that we are getting on and making these buildings safe.”

Alex Di Giuseppe, a leaseholder in a block with unsafe cladding in Manchester, said he has been dealing with the developer, freeholder and management agent but had got nowhere.

“It’s taken its toll. We’ve been living in an unsafe building and we’ve had these huge costs placed upon our heads. The stress is insurmountable.

“If this was a car with an airbag issue, it would be recalled.”

Pemberstone, Aberdeen Asset Management, Barratt Developments, Fraser Properties, Legal & General and Mace and Peabody were named as having fully borne the costs for their buildings.

Grenfell United, a group of survivors and the bereaved, said the news offered hope to people feeling at risk at home.

“This result is a testament to residents themselves. The truth is we should never have had to fight for it,” the group said.

It asked the government to consider financial support for residents as they continue night watches and wait for the remediation work to begin.

Rachel Loudain, from the UK Cladding Action Group, said leaseholders had exhausted all other options before the government stepped in to pay for the work.

“No developer was taking responsibility, no freeholder, we didn’t have any option legally or any option with insurance,” she said.

The group welcomed the news but pointed out that “many, many” leaseholders and social housing tenants living in blocks with other forms of unsafe cladding would be excluded from this help.

“Fire does not distinguish between the different types of failed cladding out there. This inadequate response will be looked back on in shame when the next Grenfell tragedy occurs,” the group said.

Labour accused the government of being “frozen like a rabbit in the headlights” in its response to the Grenfell disaster.

“Too weak and too slow to act at every stage and on every front,” the shadow housing secretary John Healey said.

The government has already committed to funding replacement cladding in the social sector. There are currently 23 blocks still covered in it.

Owners of private buildings will have three months to claim the funds, with one condition being that they take “reasonable steps” to recover the costs from those responsible for the cladding.

Source: BBC.co.uk

Tags: Fire, Grenfell
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share by Mail
https://broadsword-group.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/rsz_1my_post-8.jpg 433 1030 joannevickers https://broadswordgrp.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/broadsword-logo.png joannevickers2019-05-15 13:38:142019-06-12 13:43:04Government to pay £200m for safer cladding on Grenfell Tower
You might also like
fire New alliance formed to improve facade fire-testing
cladding Flammable cladding is a breach of human rights
fire Fire regulatory system is 'broken'
dame judith Construction standards shocking, according to Dame Judith Hackitt
Cladding Combustible cladding over 18m to be banned
fire Fire safety in construction a bigger priority post Grenfell
fire 2 years post Grenfell, do new regulations go far enough?
Fire door safety week Fire Door Safety Week
0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

  • Types of Suspended Ceilings
  • Air Sealing in Buildings
  • New duties under Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022
  • Construction site fire safety regulations: Who’s responsible?
  • Construction sites: fire safety

Recent Comments

    Archives

    • July 2022
    • June 2022
    • May 2022
    • April 2022
    • March 2022
    • February 2022
    • January 2022
    • December 2021
    • November 2021
    • October 2021
    • September 2021
    • August 2021
    • July 2021
    • June 2021
    • May 2021
    • April 2021
    • March 2021
    • February 2021
    • January 2021
    • December 2020
    • November 2020
    • October 2020
    • July 2020
    • June 2020
    • May 2020
    • April 2020
    • March 2020
    • February 2020
    • January 2020
    • December 2019
    • October 2019
    • September 2019
    • August 2019
    • July 2019
    • June 2019
    • May 2019
    • April 2019
    • March 2019
    • February 2019
    • January 2019
    • December 2018
    • November 2018
    • October 2018
    • September 2018
    • August 2018
    • July 2018
    • June 2018
    • May 2018
    • April 2018
    • March 2018
    • February 2018
    • January 2018
    • December 2017
    • November 2017
    • October 2017
    • September 2017
    • August 2017
    • July 2017
    • June 2017
    • May 2017
    • April 2017
    • June 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016

    Categories

    • Accreditation
    • Charity Events
    • Commercial
    • Fire Protection
    • Home Page news feed
    • Interiors Fit Outs
    • News
    • Other
    • Projects
    • Residential
    • Screeding
    • Vacancies

    Meta

    • Log in
    • Entries feed
    • Comments feed
    • WordPress.org
    02380 675888
    [email protected]
    SEE WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOUR BUSINESS
    • suspended ceilingTypes of Suspended CeilingsJuly 20, 2022 - 3:24 pm

      Suspended ceilings can be described as a secondary ceiling that is suspended from a structural floor slab above producing a space between the top of the suspended ceiling and the bottom of the floor slab. These ceilings can be incredibly useful as valuable space can be offered for building supplies that would be exposed otherwise. […]

      READ MORE
    • air sealingAir Sealing in BuildingsJune 15, 2022 - 12:28 pm

      Air sealing is an effective way to help prevent fires from spreading. Buildings with air leakage can mean that a fire can spread dangerously fast as the air fans the flames of the fire. This can also seriously effect energy efficiency. Air leakage can occur when outside air enters the building and conditioned air leaves […]

      READ MORE

    © Broadsword Group Ltd 2017 – website by Zap Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Sitemap |

    accreditation logos
    Ekodek Board System plastics The first plastic road used in a housing development
    Scroll to top