Government is committed to making high-rise homes safe after Grenfell Tower fire - Yorkshire Post letters

YORKSHIRE residents are rightly appalled that nearly two years after the Grenfell Tower fire, there are still buildings with unsafe aluminium composite material cladding – like the type used on Grenfell Tower – in existence.

Although temporary safety measures are in place to ensure people living in these buildings are safe right now, too many building owners are touting them as a solution rather than getting on with the job of making a permanent fix.

This is unacceptable and time has now run out. That is why we have committed to fully funding the replacement of this cladding in private high-rise homes, in the same way we have done for high-rise social homes. As a result of Government funding, every high-rise social home now has a definitive plan in place to replace cladding, and much of this work is already under way.

I have met many residents of the buildings with unsafe cladding and understand their anguish. They can only have true peace of mind when the cladding is removed, and a safe alternative is installed.

With a number of private residential buildings in Yorkshire still with unsafe cladding and with no progress being made to even begin work, time has run out.

Everyone has the right to live in a safe home and many notable developers and owners, such as Taylor Wimpey, Legal and General, Barratt Developments, Aberdeen Standard Investments, Mace and others have already done the right thing and agreed to fund and replace unsafe ACM cladding. But too many building owners are not taking this action and so now the Government will.

Nothing is more important to me than making sure people are safe and happy in their homes.

Last year, we banned combustible materials in the external walls of all new high-rise residential buildings. We have committed to take forward the recommendations made by Dame Judith Hackitt, who chaired an independent review of building regulations and fire safety following the Grenfell Tower fire.

This year I banned the use of ‘Section 21’, effectively ending all no-fault evictions for private tenants. In the coming months, we will respond to our Social Housing Green Paper which aims to empower residents and rebalance the relationship between landlord and tenant. As we make these changes, I am reminded that people want a home, not just a roof over their head. There is nothing more important than ensuring that home is a safe one.