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Plans to speed up the removal of unsafe cladding have been announced, including target dates for making buildings safer and tougher penalties for refusing to comply.
Under the plans, buildings taller than 18 meters – defined as high-rise – with hazardous cladding Covers government funded schemes. It will be fixed by the end of 2029.
By the same date, unsafe cladding in buildings above 11 meters should either be fixed or a date fixed for its completion, failing which landlords will face fines.
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said she was taking “decisive action” but campaigners said the proposals were “deeply disappointing” and would “only make a horrendously complicated process worse”.
The drive to remove certain types of cladding from buildings was sparked by the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people.
An investigation into the tragedy found that the building’s cladding, made of combustible material, was the “main” cause of the fire’s rapid spread.
In the years since the fire, attempts have been made to remove similar materials from other tower blocks.
But seven years after the fire, only a third of the tower blocks have been repaired and nearly half a million people are still living in mid- and high-rise flats with uninsulated sheets.
The lengthy process of identifying what work needs to be done and who should pay for it has left many residents with the fear of fire or the worry of expensive repair bills.
The Department of Housing previously estimated that work on buildings over 11 meters in England would be completed by 2035.
However, earlier this year the National Audit Office, the UK’s spending watchdog, warned That target will be missed unless the process is accelerated.
It also estimates that up to 60% of buildings with hazardous cladding remain undetected.
The government has now drawn up a reform acceleration plan which it says will “fix the buildings as quickly as possible, ensure that miscreants are held to account, and provide relief to affected residents”. The end should be kept in front”.
The government says the new deadlines it has set, which require action by 2029, will be backed by investment in implementation.
It also said that 29 developers, representing 95 percent of the buildings being repaired, had “committed to doubling the rate at which they are reviewing unsafe buildings and starting to repair them.” are doing”.
Housing Minister Alex Norris said developers could face fines or criminal sanctions if the deadline is not met.
“We will use whatever option we have – we are drawing a line in the sand,” he said.
The Department of Housing estimates that installing non-insulated cladding on all residential buildings over 11 meters in England would cost between £12.6bn and £22.4bn. It will cost between
The government has pledged to contribute £5.1bn to the total bill, with the rest provided by developers, private owners or social housing providers.
However, End Our Cladding Scandal, a group representing leaseholders affected by unsafe buildings, said they are “still far from a comprehensive solution” to building safety.
In a statement, the group said: “Plans to speed up labor reform are deeply disappointing. These proposals will only make a horrendously complex process worse with more layers of bureaucracy.
“The government is patting itself on the back by announcing a target date for all high-rise buildings in government-run schemes. However, the Building Safety Fund first opened for registration in June 2020, so a target date The nine years since then have been very weak.”
The group added: “We are still a long way from a comprehensive solution that will bring the change innocent leaseholders and residents across the country need and deserve.
“There is still too much uncertainty. Without leaseholders and residents knowing when homes will be made fully safe, stiff penalties would be pointless. This ‘plan’ will do little to change that.” will do.”
The publication of the government’s new plan coincides with a parliamentary debate on the second report into the Grenfell Tower fire, due to begin on Monday afternoon.
Ahead of the debate, Rayner said that “more than seven years after the Grenfell tragedy, thousands of people across this country are living in homes with dangerous sheets.
“The pace of cooperation has been too slow for too long. We are taking decisive action to right this wrong and make homes safer.
“Our Remediation Acceleration Plan will ensure that those responsible for making buildings safe will provide the makeover that residents need and deserve.”
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