Posted 19.06.20
National Audit Office: Further reading
Progress is being made in removing dangerous cladding from high-rise residential buildings following the Grenfell Tower fire. However, the pace of works has been faster in some types of building than others according to a new report by the National Audit Office.
In the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government established the Building Safety Programme. One main objectives is to 'oversee and support the remediation of high-rise residential buildings that have unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding'.
In May 2018 the government announced £400 million to fund remediation in the social housing sector in England. In May 2019 it announced a further £200 million for the remediation of equivalent buildings in the private housing sector.
By April 2020, 149 of the total 456 buildings which are 18 metres and above and have unsafe ACM cladding systems had been fully remediated, leaving 307 where remediation was not yet finished, of which work had not yet begun on 167.
As at that date, 66.7% of student accommodation blocks and 46.8% of social housing buildings had been fully remediated, compared to 13.5% of private sector residential buildings.
By the end of April 2020, the Department had paid out £1.42 million (0.7%) from the £200 million private sector fund and £133 million (33.3%) from the £400 million social sector fund.
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