£400m to axe Grenfell-style cladding on all council blocks

GRENFELL-STYLE cladding will be removed from all council tower blocks and replaced using Government funds, theresa May announced yesterday.

Mrs May told MPs at Prime Minister’s Questions that the work would cost an estimated £400million.

‘Councils and housing associations must remove dangerous cladding quickly but paying for these works must not undermine their ability to do important maintenance and repair work,’ she said.

Mrs May said that since the Grenfell tower inferno on June 14 last year, which killed 71 people, fire and rescue services had visited more than 1,250 high-rise buildings south of the Border. Immediate action had been taken to ensure the safety of every resident, she said.

there were 210 households in need of a new home in the wake of the fire, of which 201 had accepted an offer of either temporary or permanent accommodation.

‘As we approach the anniversary of the appalling tragedy that was the Grenfell tower fire, our thoughts are with the victims and survivors and all those affected by that tragedy,’ she said.

the announcement came as Labour prepared to use an opposition day debate in the Commons to press ministers.

shadow housing secretary John Healey said: ‘More than 11 months on, the time for warm words is long past, and people are rightly asking why so little has changed since the Grenfell tower fire.’

A Downing street spokesman later said the funding would cover removal and replacement of cladding at 158 high-rise blocks in the social sector in England.

Work had started on 104 buildings, and the number of eligible schemes will be kept under review, the spokesman added.