The government should cover the cost of interim safety measures.
Many buildings with dangerous cladding are protected only by security guards who patrol 24 hours a day, in order to alert the block should a fire break out.
Research by Inside Housing in March revealed that fire services were aware of 420 such blocks around the UK, but there are almost certainly many more which have been established since then.
The costs are ruinously expensive: in some instances the cost will come in at more than £250,000 a year per building. They have also been in place for more than three years in some buildings, despite guidance clearly stating that they should be a temporary measure.
Government funding is urgently needed to pick up the slack of these costs (which can reach £800 a month each) and rapidly move affected buildings over to safer and more permanent interim measures such as sprinklers and fire alarms.
Originally posted in Inside Housing on 27/09/20 by Peter Apps
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