Grenfell fire: Five years on, are London blocks safer and how many still have flammable cladding?
The Grenfell Memorial Wall in the grounds of Kensington Aldridge Academy (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire) Five years ago this week, 72 people died in a catastrophic fire at Grenfell Tower in west London — one of the UK’s worst modern disasters. In the wake of the 2017 tragedy, it […]Click here to view original web…
Ipswich tower block residents endure heatwave behind plastic
Image caption, St Francis Tower in Ipswich has been wrapped in protective plastic since May last year The temperature is rising with the Met Office extending an extreme heat weather warning for England and Wales until Tuesday . How is it for people living in a tower block of […] Click here to view original…
Barratt hands staff £1,000 each to ease cost of living squeeze
It is the latest move by the housing giant to help workers after it brought forward the annual salary review from 1 July to 1 April 2022 awarding a 5% increase to all eligible employees. The payments were revealed in a trading update this morning for the year to […] Click here to view original…
New cladding scheme to release ‘thousands’ of properties into sales market
A new cladding initiative from the Government promises to release thousands of properties into the market previously stuck in limbo under Grenfell fire-related risk rules, it has been revealed. This follows the Government Actuary Department’s (GAD) development of a new professional indemnity insurance scheme, enabling many qualified surveyors to […] Click here to view original…
Ipswich tower block residents endure heatwave behind plastic
Image caption, St Francis Tower in Ipswich has been wrapped in protective plastic since May last year The temperature is rising with the Met Office extending an extreme heat weather warning for England and Wales until Tuesday . How is it for people living in a tower block of […] Click here to view original…
UK Building Safety update: Where are we now?
The Building Safety Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. This marked the end of a long journey through Parliament for a Bill that was published in response to the Grenfell Tower fire and the 2018 report of Dame Judith Hackitt relating to building safety. Leaseholder liability […] Click here to view original…
‘Up to 10 years in prison’ for building owners sending new invoices to flat owners for cladding repairs after new law comes into force
Cladding-hit flat owners have welcomed a possible 10-year prison sentence for building owners who send ‘threatening’ demands to cover the cost of remediation works. The announcement is part of wider measures introduced by Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove that apply to buildings 11 metres or five storeys and taller. […] Click here to view original…
Over 300 buildings in London that are already unsafe have fire safety issues other than cladding
Construction workers on suspended scaffolding inspecting cladding on a high rise building in London Almost 30 per cent of buildings in London that have had their ‘stay put’ advice suspended have been deemed to have other fire safety issues beyond cladding by the London Fire Brigade (LFB). The idea […] Click here to view original…
Housing minister Greg Clark sends out contracts to developers on cladding remediation – reports
Newly-appointed housing minister Greg Clark (pictured) has said that formal contracts around cladding remediation and funding have been sent to major British housebuilders. Writing in the i , Clark said that it would be “available for comment” for four weeks, after which the contracts would be finalised. Former housing […] Click here to view original…
Enabling flat sales in high-rise buildings
Scheme development Following the Grenfell fire in 2017, mortgage lenders became reluctant to lend to buyers of flats in high-rise buildings, and sales dropped rapidly. To provide assurance a building industry group, led by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, introduced the External Wall System (EWS1) assessment process in […] Click here to view original…
Heat adds to misery for St Francis Tower residents
ST Francis Tower is wrapped in plastic which keeps temperatures up. – Credit: CHARLOTTE BOND Residents of St Francis Tower in Ipswich have been suffering even more than most in the current hot spell with their homes wrapped in plastic and temperatures rising rapidly. Jamie Lindon is a member […] Click here to view original…
Housing Secretary Greg Clark to sign agreements to solve cladding crisis within a month
Exclusive Writing for i, the new Housing Secretary says major housebuilders have a four-week deadline to sign up to remediation work contracts Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Secretary Greg Clark in Downing Street (Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters) has sent out formal contracts to finalise pledges by major British housebuilders to […] Click here to view original…