Under £50,000 allocated for private cladding removal … and not a penny spent, says London mayor

Under £50,000 allocated for private cladding removal … and not a penny spent, says London mayor

So far the London mayor’s office – which is tasked with allocating £150 million of public funds for cladding remediation has allocated £49,495.84p … and spent nothing to date.

In contrast, the allocation for social housing cladding relief is more than £208 million and nearly £75 million has been allocated.

The figures emerge in reply to Andrew Dismore of the Labour group in the London Assembly: “How much money has been a) allocated and b) disbursed to remediate high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding in London, spilt between publicly and privately-owned buildings?”

Mr Dismore said: “

Labour’s London Assembly Fire and Resilience Spokesperson, Andrew Dismore AM, said:

“The almost total inactivity in distributing the private sector remediation fund is symptomatic of the Government’s failure to grasp the urgency of the matter.

“These delays are completely unfair on leaseholders who are left living in buildings wrapped in a material that is so dangerous it’s now been banned outright. This stress is surely compounded by the fact some leaseholders are having to pay out of their own pockets for interim safety measures, such as waking watches.

“I agree with the Government that building owners who are dragging their feet should be named and shamed, but this should have been happening right from the start. We’re now two and a half years on from the Grenfell fire, and the Government should be considering all options, including compulsory purchase, where building owners are leaving residents at risk.”

The response is below:

Cladding remediation fund December update (1)

How much money has been a) allocated and b) disbursed to remediate high rise residential buildings with ACM cladding in London, spilt between publicly and privately-owned buildings?

The slow rate of progress is replicated across the country. The latest building safety data shows that just 1 of 82 applications to the fund received nationwide has had full costs approved.

Across the country, 174 private sector tower blocks have yet to be remediated, and 23 have been fixed. Of the 174, only 92 are eligible for the fund and the remaining 105 are to be funded by a warranty (23), the developer/freeholder (75), or have no clear plan (7).