The Grenfell Tower fire of 2017 was a tragedy. Preventing its repetition is a fiasco. The latest National Audit Office (NAO) report suggests that 60% of similar towers have yet to be identified, leading to a total cladding removal cost that could reach a staggering £22.4bn.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s best estimate is that the programme to remove dangerous cladding from towers over 11 metres tall will cost an estimated £16.6bn – £5.1bn of that from the taxpayer – and so far only a third of the blocks that have been identified have been completed. The NAO reckons completing all the rest could take until 2037. The intention is to to recoup another £3.4bn from developers over 12 years from 2025 – though of course, Grenfell’s bereaved and survivors can expect to wait until at least 2027 before those suspected of being responsible for the disaster could face criminal trials. This is a bad joke.
