A north London council has sounded the alarm over what it fears could be a fresh national cladding issue after a probe found UVPC on buildings to be hazardous.
Hundreds of Barnet residents face being forced to pay up to £23,000 to replace UPVC cladding, which has been identified as a fire risk, on their ex-council homes.
Barnet Council launched an investigation into the cladding after a serious fire tore through a terrace of houses in Finchley last summer.
The blaze spread rapidly across the terrace of four homes in Moss Hall Grove.
An investigation later found UVPC cladding on the outside of the buildings allowed the fire to spread quickly between the homes.
UPVC - unplasticized polyvinyl chloride - is a low-maintenance building material typically used to replace painted wood, as it is weather-resistant and does not decompose. It is used in cladding, as well as for window frames and sills.
A wider probe has now revealed the cladding is on more than 580 terraced homes in the borough of Barnet.
But Barnet Council fears this figure is “just the tip of the iceberg” for the UK, and that houses across the country are also likely to be affected.
The authority has alerted the Government, London Fire Brigade, and housing bodies about the cladding issue.
Of the 586 Barnet homes affected, 153 are council-owned. The authority plans to replace their cladding, as part of a £3.6million scheme - the first of its kind.
But the majority of the homes, 426, are ex-council homes that were bought through the Government’s right to buy scheme.
Replacing the cladding is estimated to cost up to £23,000, depending on the size of the property - a sum private owners will now have to stump up.Barnet Council plans to offer “a loan and repayment plan to freeholders to manage the cost”.
It has also written to the Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and to the Mayor of London, “to see what support can be provided to help homeowners facing huge costs” to replace the cladding.
Deputy Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, Cllr Ross Houston, said he feared other homeowners in similar properties across the country could be similarly affected by this type of cladding.
“The council will cover the cost for replacing cladding on its social housing stock but homeowners will unfortunately need to fund remediation for their own properties,” he said.
“The cost of replacing the cladding on each property could be up to £23,000 so to help we are organising a loan and a repayment plan for those who need it, but we’re really limited on what we can do.
“We believe the 586 affected homes in Barnet are just the tip of the iceberg across the country. We’re sharing details with other local authorities and DLUHC as clearly there is need for a national plan to raise awareness and work out how best to support homeowners.”
The 586 affected properties in Barnet were built between the 1930s and 1960s and are timber-framed one or two-storey terraced houses, with original timber cladding or UPVC cladding installed in the 1980s.
Barnet’s investigation - carried out last summer by expert building consultants, Capital, at the authority’s request - found that alongside the buildings’ timber frames and fire stopping issues, the cladding constituted a “category 1 hazard”.
This is the highest risk category, and means the council has a legal duty to take action.
Potentially complicating the situation, Capital has confirmed that recladding the council homes cannot be completed without works to other properties in the terrace being completed in tandem.
The council says the works will begin next month, and be undertaken over a three-year period.
A Barnet Council spokesperson said: “Letters have gone out to all homeowners and occupiers of the properties letting them know that whilst their homes contain a significant hazard, there is no imminent risk to occupiers.
“Fire safety advice has been provided, and battery powered smoke detectors are being offered at no cost to all affected residents.”
They added that properties inhabited by residents with mobility issues will be prioritised, as will some buildings that are deemed high priority because of the way they are constructed.
A report to Cabinet is recommending offering a loan and repayment plan to homeowners who opt to commission the council to undertake the refit. The proposal will be discussed at a meeting on March 12.
Cllr Houston added: “Ours is an inherited problem relating to buildings constructed and adapted a long time ago. We recognise how hard this will be for all the homeowners who will be faced with an unexpected bill for works, but we have a legal duty to act, and the safety of our residents must come first.”
Since the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, major work has been carried out on making homes safer and identifying unsafe cladding. But Barnet Council says this work has been focused on high-rise tower blocks rather than low-rise homes, many of which are clad in UVPC.
Cllr Darren Rodwell, Building Safety spokesperson for the Local Government Association, the national membership body for local councils, said: “The LGA has long been warning that the height of a building is a poor indicator of its potential risk.
“This is why councils want to see the responsibilities of the Building Safety Regulator to be extended to residential buildings below 18 meters in height. In light of other recent fires, it’s clear the Government cannot risk any further delay.
“Councils will look to identify whether they have timber framed buildings of which external wall and cladding materials pose a particular risk. To help with these efforts, the Government should provide guidance to all owners, so they are aware of where they need to take action.
“The Government should also make funding available to remediate problems where they are found so the cost of these works do not end putting more pressure on already stretched council budgets.”
A Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities spokesperson said: “We are aware of the action being taken by Barnet Council with respect to timber framed terraced housing and continue to engage closely with them on the steps they are taking.
“The Building Safety Regulator is aware and is keeping the situation under review. We will continue to liaise with the BSR and Local Authorities as appropriate to determine whether further action is necessary.”
The Mayor of London’s office has been approached by the Standard.
