Great to see @insidehousing and the @EOCS_Official survey get pick up by LBC this morning. Some of the findings are eye opening:
👉1 in 6 leaseholders exploring bankruptcy options
👉1 in 3 face bills over £50k (15% £100k-plus)
👉68% must fix problems with defective firebreaks
One interesting takeaway is how politically important this issue is for the Conservative Party. The perceived inaction so far has clearly had an impact on the way its supporters may vote in the future
Also, this is clearly not just an issue for those with large amounts of wealth. Many of those affected do not have massive reserves of money to fall back on once the cladding bills fall through their letter boxes.
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The gov looks set to announce its next plan to fix the cladding scandal. Looks like we could see funding increased to £5bn, with a £2bn levy on developers. Reported it will only be for removing cladding on buildings >18m.
Firstly, is a step in the right direction and testament to the work by groups like @UKCAG and @MCRcladiators. Two years ago, consisted of a handful of l’holders in ACM blocks and gov had given no money to private blocks. It is now a national movement. theguardian.com/society/2019/m…
The £5bn will help out a lot more leaseholders but will not get anywhere near the £15bn that it has been estimated fixing the building safety crisis will cost. There will be those that miss out. Once again, we could be looking at another ‘cladding lottery’ insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/leas…
🚨Grenfell lunchtime update🚨
Today we heard from expert witness Beryl Menzies, who is a specialist in building control.
Discussion revolved around the role of building control on large construction projects and its application at Grenfell.
Ms Menzies began by running through what she thought the role of the building safety inspector was, and whether it was a ‘safety net’ for construction projects👇
Two types of building control
Approved inspectors – private firms
Local authority - Council run
RBKC building control was in charge at Grenfell.
LA departments had been under pressures to achieve 'cost neutrality' since 2010 👇
This morning Peter Maddison (PM), the KCTMO’s director of assets and regen, gave evidence.
There was much discussion about the procurement of Rydon, and if meetings with the contractor before contract award breached procurement regulations.
More..
- PM was aware Rydon meeting would leave TMO open to challenge from other bidders
- Legal advice said certain meetings with contractors would breach procurement rules
- Emails reveal TMO told RBKC housing director to ‘bring pressure to bear’ on planners over cladding
Discussion begun around a meeting that took place between PM, other TMO staff, and Rydon on 18 March. A day before Rydon was officially chosen as the preferred bidder for the Grenfell refurb.