‘Life-critical’ cladding problems affect 2,000 social housing blocks in England

Unsafe cladding being removed from Chatham House flats in Reading, Berkshire. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex

Nearly 2,000 social housing blocks in England have “life-critical” problems with their external cladding, government figures show.

The data released earlier this month showed that 1,911 social housing blocks above 11 metres in height had been assessed as having “life-critical fire safety defects” linked to the materials in their external walls.