Since Grenfell tower fires in 2017, the UK government has been under scrutiny to be more honest about buildings containing the dangerous cladding that caused the fire.
SRnews contacted the End Our Cladding (EOC) campaign. They started their campaign in March 2019, when it started to become clear that homeowners would face bills of up to £50,000 for the removal of the flammable cladding from their buildings.
We wanted to know how common this flammable cladding was, and EOC responded that millions of homeowners are affected by dangerous cladding on their homes, and other fire safety defects. A recent analysis estimates that 4.6 million flats in the UK are affected. According to Labour, 11 million people could be affected by this flammable cladding.
In certain places, fire departments have deemed buildings unsafe to live in, which forces residents to live in other temporary accommodation, or hire ‘waking watch’ fire patrols, which cost thousands of pounds a year per home owner.
‘Waking watch is a fire safety system where trained staff continually patrol buildings and the exterior perimeter of a building to maintain the safety of the occupants from fire’
We asked if they felt their campaign had succeeded or if there was still a way to go, given that there will be a vote in parliament tonight (February 1 2021). They told us that they need the government to provide a ‘cast iron guarantee’ that homeowners will not have to face the cost of removing dangerous cladding from their buildings to ensure their safety. They said the support of labour leader Keir Starmer and other political leaders is hugely welcome.
We asked what they thought would be necessary for the government to do to end this crisis. They believe that the £1 billion Building Safety Fund needs to be expanded to:
Cover all buildings, not just those above £18 million. As well as cover all issues not just cladding issues- as they all have the same route cause.
Increase the funds available to cover more than just a fraction of the affected buildings. They said they would have less of an issue if the funds were covering the highest risk.
They believe that the government need to provide upfront financial support to ensure that:
All buildings, of any height, that have any fire risk or contain the flammable cladding will be made safe.
A proper holistic approach to risk assessments including risk mitigations such as sprinklers and alarms where required.
Another person, who is facing negative effects of the Cladding scandal has said that only 10% of buildings are unaffected. She is incredibly anxious at the cost that she will incur if her home contains this dangerous cladding. The homeowner would have to pay a large amount in order to make her home safe. They feel that the government could have done so much more as it has been 3 and a half years since Grenfell.
Keir Starmer will take the debate to parliament this afternoon, in order to force Johnson’s Government to establish the extent of the dangerous cladding and prioritise buildings according to their risk.
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