London council in legal action against building owners over ‘dangerous’ cladding
Tower Hamlets said it is the first local authority in the country to bring a legal action of this kind.
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Your support makes all the difference.A London council said it has taken legal action against building owners to demand they remove Grenfell-style cladding in what it described as the first case of its kind.
Tower Hamlets Council said it had secured a remediation order requiring the owners of a high-rise building in Stepney, in the east of the capital, to remove its aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding.
The council said it is the first local authority in the country to bring a legal action of this kind against a freeholder of a private building.
The Grenfell Tower Inquiry concluded that the principal reason flames shot up that building in June 2017 so quickly was the combustible ACM cladding with polyethylene core which acted as a “source of fuel”.
I am proud of what we have achieved, and it is due to the hard work and dedication of officers. This is the first action of this kind, but it will not be the last
Executive Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, said: “It is shocking that seven years after the devastating Grenfell Tower fire there are still high-rise buildings clad in ACM in this country.
“I believe everyone deserves to live in a safe and secure home in Tower Hamlets and this action proves we will do everything within our power to get this.
“I am proud of what we have achieved, and it is due to the hard work and dedication of officers. This is the first action of this kind, but it will not be the last.
“We are taking this approach with other private building owners who are failing to remove dangerous cladding from their buildings and we expect to secure more orders in the near future.”
The council said the order requires the building owners – which it said it is not naming – to replace ACM cladding and combustible insulation, and install new cavity barriers.
It said failing to do so within a set timeframe could see the owners face jail or an unlimited fine through the county court.
Tower Hamlets said it used powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Building Safety Act 2022 and secured agreement on the order on November 18, having applied to the First-Tier Tribunal Property Chamber.
While campaigners welcomed the “positive” development for residents of the building affected by the order, they warned that “piecemeal legal action on a building-by-building basis in regions across the country will not deliver the real change” needed.
End Our Cladding Scandal also questioned whether the costs of any work carried out could end up being passed to residents in the form of “huge bills in their next service charge demand”.
The campaign group said it remains “deeply concerned” that the Government’s recently announced plan to address the problem of buildings still clad in dangerous materials “will fail to get a grip of this crisis”.
Earlier this week, the Government said building owners who fail to remove dangerous cladding could face jail.
The Government acknowledged there could be up to 7,000 buildings in England with dangerous materials that have not yet been identified, while progress on remediation work on high-rises with known issues has been too slow.
The remediation acceleration plan means that, by the end of 2029, all buildings over 59ft (18m) tall with unsafe cladding that are on a Government scheme will have been remediated.
By then, buildings over 36ft (11m) tall with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated or have a date for completion, with landlords liable for tough penalties if they fail to comply.