Hundreds of thousands could be living in unsafe buildings 8 years after Grenfell
Hundreds of thousands of people are feared to live in unsafe buildings eight years after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire. A nationwide scandal erupted after 72 people were killed in the west London blaze in June 2017, when fire ripped through the block due to flammable cladding wrapped around the building.
It quickly emerged that developments and social housing across the UK had been covered in similar or the same material. A huge campaign began at national and local level by leaseholders demanding their buildings' owners or constructors, or local authorities, remediated their tinder box blocks.
In 2022, the government banned the specific type of cladding which allowed the blaze to spread so rapidly, meaning metal composite panels with an unmodified polyethylene core now cannot be used on any building of any height.
Previously, the ban applied only to buildings higher than 11m. But as of March 31, government data showed that 500 of the 2,718 high and mid-rise social housing blocks with 'life-critical fire-safety cladding defects' have unclear remediation strategies.
While on March 21, the Public Accounts Committee said that up to 7,000 unsafe buildings had yet to be identified.
Its report added the government had 'yet to find a way to secure financial contributions from manufacturers of dangerous cladding'.
The Committee said the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) had not made enough progress to identify and fix the estimated 9,000 to 12,000 buildings over 11 metres that may need work.
At the end of 2024, work had not yet started on half of the 5,000 buildings already within the UK Government's portfolio, it said.
In Leeds, Rachael Loftus 48, is still fearing for her life inside the Timblebeck building, which is part of the Fearn Island Mills development.
She bought her flat in 2007, having no idea of the risks the cladding on the building posed.
Rachael, who is part of campaign group The Leeds Cladding Scandal, said:
'Along with the timber cladding on the outside of the building, we have also been told that this polycarbonate sheeting should never have been used on a residential building, because it's likely to melt if the temperature got very high.
'The other problem is that the insulation behind the outer wall is polystyrene, so that would melt and be quite toxic in the event of a fire.'
Rachael - with the support of the Ministry of Housing - last year took the freeholders, Grey GR, to court to try and force them to start the process of remediation.
As a result of the civil case, the work to make the cladding safe must be completed by November next year (2026).
'They have done nothing yet,' she said. 'In fact they have already started saying that they're not sure they will hit the November 2026 target.
'All of the surveys have said the same thing, that everything we knew about the building in 2020 is exactly the same now, and they've still not done a single thing.'
She said there has been an 800% increase in her service charge, at £500 per month, while also forking out more than £600 each month for insurance, which has rocketed from £150 per year since the faults were discovered after Grenfell.
'We're paying these bills which are being caused by the delays of the freeholders,' she added. 'You'd think you'd get a discount for living somewhere unsafe, but obviously not.
'The freeholder has been saying for the past five-and-half years that 'safety is our number one priority'. We were initially told it would be sorted in two or three weeks.'
She said leaseholders were unable to sell their flats and were 'stuck' in them while values nose-dived.
' Theresa May promised on that morning after the fire: 'Never Again', but there are many buildings that will testify that this 'never again' is infinitely possible.
'There have been a number of fires in buildings and only because they've been on high alert there haven't been losses of life. But it's just luck.
'We're living with a very high level of risk. If a building where 72 people died doesn't give the government a reminder - as it talks about house building and deregulation - of the risks that exist, then nothing will.'
A spokesperson for Grey GR said it was not involved in the development of Fearn Island Mills and said it was awaiting approval from the Building Safety Regulator for its remediation plan.
It added: 'The safety of residents has been and remains Grey's utmost priority.'
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