Newsflash – Government commits £200m to fund cladding replacement for private high-rise buildings

As we approach the second anniversary of the Grenfell tragedy, Government has stepped in with a promised £200m to fund cladding replacement on around 170 privately owned high rise residential buildings (HRRBs). The headlines are:

• The government will fully fund the replacement of unsafe aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding on high-rise private residential properties “where building owners have failed to do so”.
• Communities Secretary the Rt Hon James Brokenshire MP “calls time on “reckless” building owners who have refused to take action”.
• New funding estimated at £200 million to ensure work takes place urgently. Building owners will have 3 months to access the new fund, a tight window.
• Government have made this funding conditional: “As a condition of funding, we will require the building owner to take reasonable steps to recover the costs from those responsible for the presence of the unsafe cladding”.

Further details may be found on the MHCLG web site here, and IRPM’s CEO Andrew Bulmer provides comment in today’s IRPM Technical Update for members.