Thousands left in Grenfell cladding
We name firms which have yet to replace a single panel
FIVE years on from Grenfell, today we name eight firms which have not even started replacing similar killer cladding on buildings they own which are full of terrified residents.
Their flats remain wrapped in the kind of flammable panelling that killed 72 people in the West London tower block.
Government figures reveal 486 UK high rises were found fitted with lethal aluminium composite material (ACM) after the appalling blaze in June 2017.
But work to remove and replace the cladding is yet to be completed on 58 buildings – and 26 taller than 18 metres have not had a single panel removed.
Giles Grover of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign said: “Companies continue to refuse to do the right thing.
“Many have signed a government pledge but what this means in terms of action to make buildings safe is unclear for hundreds of thousands of people. The Government and rogue firms must stop playing games with our lives.”
The shameful eight yet to start vital remediation work include secretive companies registered offshore. They are on a government red list of firms “where remediation works have not started on at least one of their buildings”. They include Betterpride Limited which bought converted flats in Edgware, North London, shortly before the Grenfell disaster in 2017.
Work to replace the ACM has stalled over a funding row with the Government. Rocquefort Properties Ltd, registered in Jersey, is part of a complex web of property companies and owns property in London.
Adriatic Land 5 is a residential freeholding company – but there is no public information about the ACMclad building it owns.
Other firms on the red list are Rockwell (FC100) Limited, HEB Apartments Limited, HEB Commercial Limited, Tonenest Limited and Property Class England 2 GmbH & Co KG.
The Ministry of Housing said enforcement action had been taken against 65 building owners who refused to remove cladding.
A total of 26 cases of enforcement have been brought against owners yet to start remediation.
Despite the Building Safety Act coming into force in April, developers, freeholders and the Government are still squabbling over who should pay to make homes safe – and it is innocent leaseholders who still face picking up the bill.