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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Jessica Murray Social affairs correspondent

Dagenham leaseholders left homeless by fire could be forced to pay for cladding works

Spectrum Building on fire
The Spectrum Building in Dagenham caught fire in 2024 while work was under way to remove unsafe cladding similar to that used on Grenfell Tower. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

People who lost their homes when a tower block in Dagenham burned down say they are being made to pay for the building’s fire safety works after the government demanded its money back.

Former leaseholders of the Spectrum Building, a seven-storey block of flats that was demolished after a major fire in August 2024, said it was “absolutely outrageous” the Greater London Authority (GLA) was seeking to reclaim £6m for the safety works because the blaze meant they were never completed.

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