Council tenants stuck with Grenfell defects as private blocks next door are fixed

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1. Government funding is not available to fix fire safety issues that go beyond cladding for towers which are solely for social housing tenants

   Council tenants are stuck living in social housing blocks with Grenfell-style defects while private flats next door to them are fixed, **i** has learned.

   Government funding is not available to fix fire safety issues that go beyond cladding for towers which are solely home to social housing tenants.

   Housing groups warn that this has resulted in private homeowners being prioritised when it comes to fixing “life critical” safety defects such as combustible insulation and fire breaks.

   Government grants to make residential blocks with these issues fire safe are only available to social landlords via the Building Safety Fund (BSF) if the block is above 18 metres tall and home to any private leaseholders too.

   Blocks which solely house social renters with serious fire safety flaws – that are separate from cladding issues – are not eligible for this funding, leaving housing associations to find the money to pay for their own remediation works.

   The new Labour Government must fund all cladding removal and fire safety remediation on social housing blocks urgently to keep people safe, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has told **i**.

   At present, Government support via the [Social Sector ACM Remediation Fund](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/social-sector-acm-cladding-remediation-fund-application-guidance) is only available for blocks taller than 18m or through the Cladding Safety Scheme, which does not cover other fire safety defects.

   “The wellbeing of private homeowners was prioritised over social tenants by the previous government”, the NHF – the trade body of housing associations – warned.

   Social landlords said the funding gap means that there are still [1,751 blocks over 11 metres](https://www.bdonline.co.uk/news/remediation-of-unsafe-cladding-on-2300-residential-buildings-yet-to-start/5131234.article#:~:text=In%20the%20social%20housing%20sector,reported%20to%20have%20completed%20remediation.) high out of the total 2,414 identified as having “life-critical” fire-safety defects, which have yet to complete remediation work.

   In Bethnal Green, east London, two similar buildings owned by the same landlord on one street present a stark example of the problem.

   Just three minutes apart, the blocks – Verdigris Apartments and Geoffrey Woolley House – are both owned by Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH).

   But there is a crucial difference between them: one has undergone urgent remediation work to remove Grenfell-style fire safety defects, while the other has not.

   Verdigris, the block that is home to 49 private leasehold flats, has been made safe. Just a few metres away, the six-storey, almost 15 metres tall Geoffrey Woolley House, which contains 17 socially rented flats, has fire safety issues which pose a threat to residents.