Guide For Tenants On Raising Safety Issues In Tower Blocks

A new website has been created by tower block safety campaigners to give residents advice on how to get safety issues fixed. FixMyBlock.org is the first self-help service targeted at tower block residents. It has been set up in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire and the associated discovery of safety issues in thousands of buildings nationwide. It offers social housing tenants an explanation of their rights and provides template letters to be sent to landlords or other authorities. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/guide-for-tenants-on-raising-safety-issues-in-tower-blocks-published--67621?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60 

Dangerous Tower Blocks Should Be Taken Over By Government

MPs have urged the government to take over residential tower blocks if owners fail to remove dangerous cladding. The housing committee says it's "deeply shocking and completely unacceptable" that about 2,000 buildings in England are still potentially at risk nearly three years after the Grenfell fire. The committee wants the work finished by December 2021 but says the budget is only a third of what is needed. The government said it was providing £1.6bn to remove dangerous cladding. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-53015868

Tower Block Residents 'Ill With Stress' Over Combustible Cladding

Residents in a tower block that is wrapped with combustible cladding say they are facing possible bankruptcy and are falling ill with stress after the building owner and its developer refused to pay £4m to make their homes safe. The latest government figures show that cladding on only five of 176 privately owned towers identified has been replaced amid ongoing disputes between ministers, councils and building owners over who should pay. Leaseholders at the Northpoint building in Bromley in south London are each facing £70,000 bills in a situation they describe as “absolutely desperate”. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/jan/13/tower-block-residents-ill-with-stress-over-combustible-cladding

Hundreds Of Tower Blocks Across UK At Risk Of Collapse

Tower blocks across the UK, home to an estimated 100,000 people, have a systemic structural flaw that puts them at risk of collapse. In the wake of the Grenfell disaster, safety problems have come to light at towers built using the Large Panel System (LPS) method during the 1960s and 1970s, which house more than 41,000 flats in cities up and down the country. The flawed construction method has left cracks in some flats wide enough to allow residents to slide their hands in between the walls. It also leaves them at risk of complete collapse in the event of a fire or gas explosion. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tower-blocks-collapse-risk-grenfell-safety-government-a8592436.html

MP Urges Help For Tower Block Leaseholders Facing Cladding Bill

Ministers have been urged to help residents of a Liverpool tower block who may be facing bills of £18,000 to replace unsafe cladding. Labour MP Louise Ellman said Heysmoor Heights' leaseholders must not be "abandoned" over fire safety work. There was legal uncertainty over who should fund the work, she said. Management company RMG said the block's freeholder had paid for the work in advance and it was hoped costs would be covered by building warranty insurance. Ms Ellman's statement follows Prime Minister Theresa May's pledge to fund the removal of dangerous cladding from tower blocks owned by councils and housing associations. Read more on the BBC website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-44152032

Just Nine ‘Fire-Risk’ Social Housing Blocks Being Reclad

According to new Government statistics mapping the extent of remedial works just one social housing block has been completed six months after the Grenfell disaster. 162 social housing buildings are fitted with combinations of aluminium composite material cladding and insulation judged to have failed the large-scale tests.  Cladding has been removed on 57 of these buildings over 18m in height. Of these, 26 buildings have had all cladding removed. Work has started on nine blocks to install replacement cladding and one building has finished the installation of replacement cladding. Read more on the Construction Enquirer website.

Government Orders Landlords To Carry Out Tower Block Cladding Tests

The government has told social landlords to carry out tests of cladding on their tower blocks. The Grenfell Tower fire last week tore up the outside of the building, leading to widespread speculation that the cladding on the building might have hastened the spread of the fire. In a letter from Melanie Dawes, permanent secretary at the CLG, she wrote there is “significant anxiety” from tenants about whether the tower blocks they live in are safe. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tower Block Residents Are Being Left In the Cold

Changes to the government’s support scheme for energy efficiency have seen tower block retrofit schemes shelved, leaving residents of Britain’s tower blocks in poor conditions with high energy bills. But new research shows that, in spite of the changes, there’s still a strong business case for putting tower blocks at the top rather than the bottom of the queue for energy retrofit. 400,000 homes in the UK are in tower blocks. Many are disadvantaged. Seventy one per cent of people living on or above the 5th floor are social rented sector tenants. Due to poor building fabric resident’s energy bills are often unmanageably high. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Council Claims Victory in Battle over 'Affordable Rent'

Islington Council has claimed a minor victory in its battle against 'affordable rent' housing in the borough after a deal was struck with developer Berkeley Homes over its 1,000-home City Forum scheme. The scheme comprises two tower blocks of 42- and 36-storeys and will include 995 homes, 30% of which have been designated as 'affordable'. There will also be a 190-room hotel, a crèche, retail and office space. It is expected that the development will lead to the creation of more than 1,000 jobs.  According to the council, following the call-in, Berkeley had demanded over £4 million from the local authority to secure the ‘affordable rent’ homes at ‘target' (i.e. social) rents. But after negotiations with the council, this demand was later dropped, with the homes being provided at social rent levels without subsidy. Read more on 24dash.