The state of dangerously cladded buildings took another confused turn today when the Government announced that it "will fully fund the replacement of unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on high-rise private residential properties where building owners have failed to do so", to the tune of around £200million.
"The Government has already fully funded this work in social housing developments" the press release added "However, private developers and freeholders have been too slow to act and leaseholders have been threatened with significant, often unaffordable, costs resulting in delays."
While the news is probably good for private leaseholders, confusion still reigns in Salford, where the eight Pendleton blocks still covered in the dangerous cladding were excluded from the first round of Government funding for the 'social sector' as Salford Council had entered a Private Finance Initiative, or PFI, agreement with Pendleton Together Operating Ltd (PTOL).
The blocks also look set to be excluded from this second round of £200million funding as they are owned by Salford City Council, and don't fit the 'private residential' model. PTOL has, apparently, secured the funding to sort the cladding from its own sources – but, almost two years after Grenfell, still nothing has been done (apart from taking cladding off lower floors), and residents are still living in fear.*
While residents in the eight Pendleton Together blocks are in limbo, new Government figures show that, as of the end of April this year, Salford, along with Greenwich and Tower Hamlets, has the country's highest number of "high-rise residential and publicly-owned buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated". Figures show that there are 'More than twenty'.
This afternoon, the Government wouldn't give any details to the Salford Star on whether this latest round of funding will cover the work on the Pendleton blocks. Neither would it give exact figures on the ('more than twenty') number of 'high-rise residential and publicly-owned buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated".' in Salford.
Meanwhile, the figures the Government put out in its press release are confusing to say the least..."The latest figures show that 156 private buildings are yet to start works on removing and replacing ACM cladding, compared to 23 in the social sector" the Government stated. Its own Building Safety Programme: Monthly Data Release to the end of April this year, appear to tell a more compelling story.
This data set shows that there are 164 private sector residential buildings and 108 social sector residential buildings with "ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet Building Regulations yet to be remediated". Plus 29 student accommodation buildings, 30 hotels and seven publicly owned buildings.
Of the 108 social sector buildings nationwide, 87 have 'started remediation', twenty have a plan in place but haven't started, and one has an 'intent' to do something. Where does Pendleton fit into this, as 'remediation' has come to a full stop?
With absolutely no transparency from the Government, and Salford City Council and Pendleton Together dithering over any confirmed date to strip the cladding off and replace it, it's the residents at the sharp end who are having to live with it all. It's almost two years since Grenfell! And Salford is still suffering...
*See previous Salford Star article on a speech by a Pendleton Together tenant delivered at the Manchester May Day Festival last Sunday - click here
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