NHF calling on the Government to halt the testing on ACM cladding and shift its focus to making people safe
The Metropolitan Police have confirmed that the Grenfell Tower Fire death toll has risen to 80 and also revealed that it will take three months to identify the victims that it could and that the real death toll was likely to be higher.
The National Housing Federation (NHF) have said the searches carried out had confirmed a huge number of failures and that the government should now move to planning the safe removal of thousands of panels.
David Orr, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation said:
“Since the tragic fire that took place at Grenfell Tower on Wednesday 14 June, colleagues across the housing sector have been doing everything they can to reassure residents and take action to make homes safer. This includes urgently submitting data and samples to the Government’s testing programme.
“These tests were the right thing to do, but the results are now conclusive: ACM cladding simply does not pass these tests and is deemed unsafe. Across the country, valuable resources – from specialist equipment to expert time – are being poured into a testing process of which the results are already known.
“We are calling on the Government to halt the testing on ACM cladding and shift its focus to making people safe.
“It is highly likely that this means removing the cladding from hundreds of buildings we were assured were safe – including hotels, private sector blocks, hospitals and student accommodation.
“This process has powerfully demonstrated a systemic failure in construction, manufacturing and the way that regulation has been applied. Putting this right will require a strategic look at the issue of fire safety in buildings as a whole, as well as clear prioritisation and funding from Government – the costs should not fall on the residents of these properties.”
Comments from David Orr, Chief Executive at the National Housing Federation sourced from NHF.
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