Industry News


Cladding removal deadline ‘expected’ to be met, despite delays


by the 31 December deadline despite the current slow rate of progress. The deadline was originally set by the former


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Housing Secretary James Brokenshire back in the summer, but has more recently been confirmed by a spokesman at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government. The private sector is expected to complete the removal work by June 2020 – which will be three years after the Grenfell fire. There may be some permitted “exceptional cases”


where buildings miss the end of year deadline because they include complexities, such as being unusually shaped and requiring additional time and work. In the latest update it was reported that ACM


cladding had yet to be removed and replaced on 98 social housing high rises. Work had started but was


overnment Ministers expect all Grenfell style ACM cladding panels to be removed from social housing high-rise tower blocks


not completed on 83 blocks, work had yet to begin on 13 buildings and plans are still being developed for the remaining two. These figures are actually slightly worse than those reported during October and it is hard to see how the end of year target will be met. There are 169 private sector high rises


where ACM cladding has yet to be removed - 25 have started remediation; 77 have a remediation plan in place but works have not started; 66 have responded with an intent to remediate and are developing plans; and just one building has an unclear remediation plan. There are a further 11 private sector high-rise buildings where the status of the cladding has yet to be confirmed. A total of 61 social housing high rise blocks with


ACM cladding have had all remediation works completed, including sign off from building control. The figure for private sector completions is just 15 buildings.


The buildings yet to be remediated account for


approximately 7,600 flats and maisonettes in the social housing sector and between 13,300 and 17,100 in the private sector. There are 18 student accommodation buildings yet to complete remediation works and 26 hotels similarly affected. No deadlines have yet been set for the removal of


other forms of combustible cladding panels, which campaigners have also been lobbying for. They claim other forms of cladding are every bit as dangerous as those made from aluminium composite materials. During the initial debate in the House of


Commons on the Grenfell Inquiry phase one report, the Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick urged all owners of affected tower blocks to proceed with remediation works, or to risk being named and shamed. The Government has provided a £400m fund for


remediation work in the social housing sector and £200m for remediation work in the private sector.


Homelessness cost councils over £1bn last year


Analysis of Government figures by the housing charity Shelter has revealed the amount being spent by councils on temporary accommodation for homeless households in England rose to over £1bn last year. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter, said:


“These figures are a shocking, yet entirely preventable consequence of our housing emergency.” She called on the next government to commit to building at least 90,000 new social homes a year over the next parliament. The figures also show:


• Councils spent £1.1 billion on temporary accommodation for homeless households between April 2018 and March 2019;


• This represents an increase of nine per cent in the last year and 78 per cent over the last five years;


• More than 30 per cent of the total (£344 million) was spent on emergency B&Bs, which are some of the worst places for families with children to live;


• Spending on B&Bs has increased by a staggering 111 per cent in the last five years, largely due to a shortage of affordable accommodation meaning councils have no choice but to use emergency B&Bs; and


• The amount councils spent from their own budgets on temporary accommodation has increased by 123 per cent in the last five years, while central government grants for social housebuilding have been cut.


14 | HMM December/January 2020 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


Polly Neate, added: “If consecutive governments


had built the genuinely affordable social homes that are needed, fewer people would be homeless, and we would not be wasting vast sums on unsuitable temporary accommodation. “What’s even more shameful is that so


much of this public money is lining the pockets of unscrupulous private landlords, who can charge desperate councils extortionate rates for grim B&Bs, because there’s nowhere else for families to go. No family should have to live in a tiny room where there’s nowhere to even cook a meal, or any safe space for their children to play.” Meanwhile the charity Centrepoint has


estimated that more than 22,000 young people, aged 16 to 24, will be homeless or at risk of homelessness over the course of the Winter and are unlikely to feature in official statistics, such as those quoted above.


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