A housing minister has warned “far too many” buildings remain unsafe, with work to remove dangerous cladding yet to begin at almost 50% of monitored properties.
Lord Khan of Burnley said there is a need to “go further, faster” as he told peers that remediation work has not started at 2,415 residential buildings 11 metres and over in height in England.
His remarks came as the House of Lords debated the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report, which Lord Khan said focused on fire safety but also “exposed wider failures in practice and culture” across government and industry.
Conservative peer Lord Porter of Spalding said it is “pure luck” stopping a tragedy similar to Grenfell as he questioned whether the work to make buildings safe will ever be completed.
Campaigners have repeatedly criticised the slow progress of remediation work in the seven years since the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people in 2017.
Speaking in the upper chamber, Lord Khan said: “Culture change cannot be a long-term aspiration, it must begin immediately.
“The Government has an obligation to carefully consider the findings and recommendations and continue to reform accordingly.
“So too do the designers, house builders, contractors, specialists, professionals, those who produce and market products, those who service and manage buildings.
“Every constituent part of our housing sector must act.
“What is abundantly clear is that far too many buildings remain unsafe.”
Addressing the latest Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government remediation figures released this week, Lord Khan said: “They show that of the 4,834 residential buildings 11 metres over in height with unsafe cladding that the department is monitoring, 1,436 – 30% – have completed remediation, 983 – 20% – have started remediation, but that 2,415 buildings – 50% – have still not started remediation.
“We must go further, faster. Investment in remediation will rise to over £1 billion in June 2025/26 and we have previously committed to accelerating the pace of remediation through targeted measures.
“I’m pleased to say that more on this will be outlined imminently.
“Everyone is entitled to and should be able to access a safe home regardless of background or community.
“What we saw prior to, during and after the tragedy at Grenfell Tower was a lack of respect for residents and a community treated appallingly – both by their landlord and by local government leaders who should have listened and acted sooner.
“Lessons have been learned but more must be done so the right support can be mobilised quickly to respond to major events.”
Lord Porter, who was chairman of the Local Government Association on the day of the Grenfell Tower fire, said: “When the minister said he was hopeful we’d never have to have another case of this, I didn’t see whether you had your fingers crossed because that’s the only way we’d get no chance of another one.
“It is pure luck that is stopping another Grenfell being the case tomorrow, today, tonight.
“There are so many unsafe buildings in this country that will not get remediated at any time in my lifetime.
Since the Grenfell fire, 4,771 buildings over 11 metres with dangerous cladding have been identified and are in the government's remediation portfolio.@MHCLG estimates mean there could be up to 7,200 buildings still to identify.
Read our report: https://t.co/1rIkfOP2I0 pic.twitter.com/IfWKppRYHY
— National Audit Office (@NAOorguk) November 4, 2024
“There will still be buildings that are dangerous places for people to live in when I’m in my wooden box, there will still be people who will live and sleep every night in a building that could end up killing them.
“We’re not going to get through the remediation process. Every time somebody brings a new piece of work to the table, we find more properties that need fixing.”
The National Audit Office earlier this month said a target date must be set for work to make safe thousands of buildings covered in dangerous cladding.
Whitehall’s spending watchdog said up to 7,229 buildings across England are yet to be identified and some might never be, as it warned completing works to make all buildings safe at an estimated cost of £16 billion might not be achieved in the next decade.
Liberal Democrat Baroness Pidgeon, a former London Assembly member, said: “The huge issue that remains is the number of buildings with dangerous cladding and other fire risks that remain across the country, but particularly in our big cities.”
For the Conservatives, Baroness Sanderson of Welton told the debate: “It is now nearly seven-and-a-half years since that terrible night, but none of us should ever fall into the trap of thinking ‘Oh, it’s a long time ago’ or that it is somehow easier for people now than it was then. It isn’t.
“As the chair of Grenfell United said on the day the final report was published, ‘We paid the price’. The price was their children, their parents, their neighbours and their loved ones.
“We cannot bring them back, but we can do what is right in memory of them and we on this side of the House stand ready to help the Government in that task.”
