£30m fund to pay for fire patrols at flats with Grenfell-style cladding
A £30m Government fund has been launched to help residents who are spending thousands of pounds a year to have their cladding-laden flats watched round the clock…. To continue reading Already a subscriber? Log in Enjoy unlimited access to all articles Choose from all our exclusive newsletters Unlock money-saving […]Click here to view original web…
Anxious Christmas in store for residents at fire trap flats despite promise of more cash
Many buildings still have dangerous cladding on them, and residents must pay thousands for waking watch patrols. Liverpool’s cladding campaigners fear an anxious Christmas ahead despite the government’s promise to help pay for new fire alarms at dangerous apartment blocks. The government announced the £30m fund on Thursday (December […] Click here to view original…
New £30 million Waking Watch Relief Fund announced
New £30million Waking Watch Relief Fund for fire alarms to reduce costs for leaseholders forced to have a waking watch £1 billion Building Safety Fund deadlines extended to ensure more eligible buildings can remove unsafe cladding Around 95% of buildings with dangerous ‘Grenfell type’ ACM cladding to have completed […] Click here to view original…
Urgent fire safety measures ordered at Huddersfield blocks of flats after cladding
Harold Wilson Court, Leeds Road, Huddersfield. Extra fire safety measures for three blocks of flats have been ordered by Kirklees Council and KNH, who manage its housing stock. And Harold Wilson Court on Leeds Road, Huddersfield, will have immediate 24-hour a day patrols to ensure fire safety for the […] Click here to view original…
Fire Safety Bill – House of Lords support a prohibition on remediation costs being passed to tenants
Following the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, both the Fire Safety Bill and the Building Safety Bill are anticipated to come into effect early in 2021. One of the most contentious issues relating to the new legislation has been the issue of who should pay for the associated remediation […] Click here to view original…
Post-Grenfell cladding inspections find other fire risks
image captionFlat owners have been organising fire safety checks Flat owners have been looking for evidence of unsafe cladding in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire that killed 72 people in 2017. When surveyors visited Lucy Seker’s flat in central Manchester earlier this year, they found the cladding […] Click here to view original…
Grenfell effect made our flats’ insurance premium ruinous
I bought my first flat in a four-storey block in 2017. The building had been fitted with insulating cladding two years previously using the government’s Green Homes Grant. The cladding has been certified as fire safe and is still widely used. Despite this, and the fact that the block […] Click here to view original…
Flat sellers could still face holdups despite safety form change
A government announcement designed to help the owners of 450,000 flats that are currently unsaleable “does not solve the problem”, according to organisations representing the UK’s mortgage industry. Last weekend – somewhat out of the blue – the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, announced that those living in blocks of […] Click here to view original…
Hidden Housing Scandal: government’s EWS1 offer “doesn’t really solve anything”
A government deal that was meant to free almost half a million flats from the building-safety scandal is “just hot air”, says Amy Jones, a first-time buyer it has failed to help. This month Jones, 27, lost out on buying a flat because lenders insisted on a safety certificate […] Click here to view original…
Grenfell Tower inquiry: ‘Whistleblower’ refusing to give evidence
Grenfell Tower in June 2020 Claude Wehrle, who worked for Arconic, say he fears he might breach a law in France which prevents evidence being given to proceedings abroad. An inquiry letter seen by the BBC reveals he is one of at least two employees who are holding out. […] Click here to view original…
Centenary Plaza residents face £4k bill for 24hr fire patrols after cladding fears
(Image: Darren Quinton/Birmingham Live) Birmingham’s iconic Centenary Plaza has been forced to hire 24hr fire patrols due to potentially unsafe cladding – with residents set to foot the £4,000 per month bill. An investigation into the Holiday Street building has also discovered an alleged insufficiency of fire breaks, while […] Click here to view original…
Labour MP says new Government cladding crisis measures not enough
A Labour MP today said that new measures announced by the Government to address the cladding crisis are not enough to solve the major challenges facing leaseholders in London. Putney MP Fleur Anderson spoke to SWL about the £30 million Waking Watch Fund, and the six-month extension to the […] Click here to view original…