The government’s most recent announcement about the steps it is taking to address the cladding scandal delivered a positive headline in the form of £3.5bn of extra funding but has ultimately only succeeded in generating more questions and uncertainty. Within the announcement, the Housing Secretary confirmed that the government […]Click here to view original web…

Leaseholders who bought their homes through the shared ownership scheme could still face the full costs of cladding remediation bills, despite only owning minority shares in their flats. With remediation bills sometimes running into the tens of thousands, some shared ownership leaseholders could end up facing bills higher than […] Click here to view original…

The headlines were improving for Number 10. Britain’s vaccine roll-out was, as Ursula von der Leyen admitted, a ‘speed boat’ to the EU’s ‘tanker’ and Boris was seen as having relocated his mojo. Housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s unveiling of his cladding renewal scheme could have maintained the positive newsflow. […] Click here to view original…

Getty Images Residents of some blocks deemed to be unsafe have been forced to leave The government has pledged billions of pounds to fix unsafe cladding for some high-rise building residents in England. Thousands were left feeling unsafe and facing huge bills for safety improvements after the combustible cladding […] Click here to view original…

A top civil servant working on the cladding scandal admitted the crucial 18-metre rule had been picked simply because ministers ‘didn’t have time to come up with a better number’. Safety expert Brian Martin said ‘a whole bunch of ridiculous things’ had been used to justify the building height […] Click here to view original…

Eamonn Holmes has shared his despair over the cladding scandal after it was revealed numerous building blocks are still to be fixed, putting lives at risk. The This Morning presenter called out Prime Minister Boris Johnso n to “do the right thing” and fix the cladding issue for homeowners. […] Click here to view original…

Deepa Mistry and her partner Greg Longley pictured for a Panorama documentary about shared ownership properties and the cladding scandal (C) BBC – Photographer: Jordan Downer A family caught up in the cladding scandal told the News they have become reliant on food banks and Universal Credit to help […] Click here to view original…

The Ivery, in Hampstead’s Iverson Road, was found to have flammable cladding, insulation and balcony fixtures. – Credit: Google Streetview Residents of a West Hampstead apartment block face bills for hundreds of thousands of pounds, after learning their homes are covered in flammable cladding. The Ivery, on Iverson Road, […] Click here to view original…

A whole generation of often first-time homeowners could be mentally scarred and financially ruined L&Q’s Arch Street – residents had to move out in 2019 during remedial work after fire safety problems were identified with cladding. Billions of pounds of funding to remove dangerous cladding from high-rise blocks across […] Click here to view original…

Dozens of households ordered to leave an L&Q block in Elephant and Castle over cladding fears have spent nearly two years and the entire pandemic living in temporary, rented accommodation with no idea when they can return to their own homes. Bryn Roberts, a first-time buyer with a 35 […] Click here to view original…

Link to this page: https://www.socialistparty.org.uk/issue/1121/32034 The Grenfell Tower blaze has killed many and destroyed the homes of many more, photo @Natalie_Oxford (Twitter) (Click to enlarge) Despite the horrific scenes at Grenfell almost four years ago, around 700,000 people in the UK are still living in buildings fitted with combustible […] Click here to view original…

Upper Grenfell Tower. Photo by ChiralJon,s licensed under CC BY 2.0 The Welsh Government is urgently requesting full details of the £3.5 billion funding package announced last week by Robert Jenrick, Secretary of State for Housing Communities and Local Government, to replace unsafe cladding on buildings in England. The […] Click here to view original…