Manchester Cladiators

"Grenfell is still giving up its secrets and they retain the power to shock.......The inquiry is revealing how crony capitalism was central to the causes of the tragedy"

"Campaigners vow to fight 'indefensible' Fire Safety Bill, which leaves leaseholders liable to bills of up to £150,000 each for repairs."

"MPs call for complete overhaul of Government's solution to cladding crisis."

"Chris Clarkson, 38, has had pleas to help save 550 leaseholders from potentially crippling costs – and now faces being hit in the pocket himself for siding with the Government"

An article in the Financial about Sportscity Living, which is close to the Ethihad Stadium and has serious fire safety issues.

"Fire-risk flats where repairs will cost each resident up to £156k: First-time buyer reveals the most expensive example of cladding crisis so far"

"The £9bn cladding black hole: As MPs vote down bill to protect leaseholders from huge fire safety costs, property owners are left facing crippling costs."

"Lifelong Conservative voters caught up in the building safety crisis are abandoning the party after its MPs voted against protecting leaseholders from potentially crippling costs to fix fire risks discovered after the Grenfell Tower fire."

"MPs defeat bid to save leaseholders from huge fire safety bills.

Amendments to stop building owners passing on the costs of fixing defects were defeated in a Common vote.

People affected by the vote include Julie Frasier, 58, who bought a two-bed flat in the Decks complex in Runcorn"

"The government has defeated a bid to save householders from bills running into tens of thousands of pounds to get rid of combustible cladding of the kind blamed for the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

Despite a rebellion by 29 Tories, ministers comfortably saw off an amendment to the Fire Safety Bill by a margin of 322 votes to 253."

"The Bishop of St Albans, Alan Smith, together with the Bishop of London, Sarah Mullally, and Bishop of Kensington, Graham Tomlin, have spoken of their regret at the vote in the Commons tonight removing an amendment to the Fire Safety Bill to protect leaseholders from the cost of replacing dangerous cladding."

"On Monday the government rejected proposals which would have seen developers and cladding manufacturers billed for hazardous materials in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, a move which could have serious implications for hundreds of thousands of people, campaigners have warned.."

"Cladding victims are preyed on by fire safety fraudsters: Thousands of certificates for blocks of flats may be fakes, probe reveals
Homeowners found fire safety reports were signed off by unqualified engineers
Certificates are needed to prove their homes are safe from dangerous cladding
It means families could be living in fire-risk flats wrongly signed off as safe "

"Fresh hope for victims of the cladding scandal as it emerges their insurance claims could be paid by the state
Insurance premiums have soared by £1.6billion for those living in unsafe homes
Those without buildings insurance risk their homes being repossessed "

The Fire Safety Bill comes back to the Commons this afternoon for MPs to consider the changes made by peers — and there’s an amendment in there that Labour hopes is going to cause a bit of a fuss. It’s the reiteration of what’s become known as the ‘McPartland-Smith amendment’ after the two Conservative MPs — Stephen McPartland and Royston Smith — who originally made the demand. The amendment bans leaseholders from being made liable for the costs of remediation work, such as removing flammable cladding from their homes.

Isabel Hardman

"We call on the government to support leaseholders living in high-rise private buildings who are facing substantial retrospective costs to replace unsafe cladding. No leaseholder should suffer anxiety, facing costs well beyond their ability to pay. Remedial work on these buildings may cost a total of £15bn — "

"Retirements in ruins: Cladding scandal sees buy-to-let investors left high and dry - with plans in tatters and properties almost worthless "

"Sarah, who works in the TV industry, paid £142,000 for the one-bedroom flat at Albion Works in 2016. “I’ve been living down in London and priced out, so ..........."

"Victoria Robinson, 37, may never be able to sell her home — because, at the current rate of repairs, it will take more than a century to fix blocks of flats with a high fire risk."

"Government must foot £15billion bill to fix unsafe cladding on 1.5million homes, says TV property expert Phil Spencer"

"Up to 1.5 million flats could be unmortgageable for years to come in the wake of the Grenfell fire. As sales chains collapse and estate agents turn away as many as a third of flat owners who want to sell, everyone wants an EWS1 certificate to prove that their block is safe."

"The next fire won’t wait. Here are the 10 steps to End Our Cladding Scandal

Inside Housing has joined with residents of buildings with dangerous cladding to call for the government to lead an “urgent, national effort” to end the scandal that has left tens of thousands of buildings nationwide clad in dangerous materials and residents asked to pay."

"........Signalled more Treasury aid for trapped leaseholders of buildings with unsafe cladding."

"Giles Grover, a leaseholder from the Manchester Cladiators group, added: "The government’s previous ACM remediation target date, of June 2020, has been pushed back eighteen months and it is very likely the aim to commit the Building Safety Fund in under seven months is another ’pie-in-the-sky’ promise.

"We have grown tired of the Government’s warm words and good intentions and we echo the chair’s comments that the government must now step up, put a stop to the bickering and just put this right."

"Tens of thousands of high-rise residents have been left trapped in unsellable homes because the UK government has failed to deliver on “pie-in-the-sky promises” to fix them, the public accounts committee has said.

More than three years after the Grenfell Tower disaster in west London killed 72 people, the powerful cross-party committee of MPs said it was “unacceptable” that similar cladding remains on hundreds of residential buildings. In a damning report it called on ministers to “put a stop to arguing over who’s responsible and put this right”.

"Coun Richards said: “In order for many hundreds of leaseholders to not be left carrying the burden, the industry and insurance sector need to come forward and contribute.

“But without leadership from the government this is looking less and less likely. [The fund] is not enough to deal with the scale of issues being identified on a weekly basis.”
The meeting also heard that the council remains committed to working hand in hand with affected leaseholders through the Cladiators campaign group."

"Owners of high-rise apartments wrapped in combustible cladding have demonstrated in Westminster to demand Boris Johnson release billions of pounds to end a national fire safety crisis that continues nearly 1,000 days after the Grenfell Tower disaster......

.......Fran Reddington, a leaseholder who founded the Manchester Cladiators campaign group, told the rally: “I can’t put into words what the mental health impact has been … We are now calling on government to release a fund, release this burden from the leaseholders. We could see another tragedy. Fire does not wait for politics to play out.”

"In February, the Manchester Cladiators, the High Rise Task Force and the Mayor and Salford City Mayor arranged a lobby of Parliament attended by residents from high rises across the country, high-profile politicians outside Parliament to highlight the scale of the problem and call on Government to do more.

Chair of the High Rise Task Force, Salford City Mayor Paul Dennett, said: “Since 2018, GMFRS, the High Rise Task Force and industry experts have been warning Government that its focus on Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) was too narrow and that other cladding systems including high-pressure laminate also posed a significant risk in relation to external fire spread."

"Campaign group Manchester Cladiators, which represents tower block residents, said in response to the figures: "We are extremely concerned at the speed at which remediation of ACM cladding has taken place.

"In addition, there are hundreds of thousands of residents who live in buildings with other dangerous cladding and fire safety issues. If the remediation works continue at the same pace then it will take decades to make these homes safe.

"Meanwhile people cannot move - their lives are on hold and some are paying bills of thousands of pounds every month for waking watch patrols and increased insurance premiums.

It is unacceptable and we will continue to campaign until all residents live in safe homes."

"Campaign group Manchester Cladiators, represents tower block residents, said the report 'paints a bleak picture' and described the Government approach as 'flawed'.

A spokesperson said: "The Government has adopted a slow and flawed fire safety strategy throughout the three year period since the Grenfell Tower tragedy.

"First seeking to persuade building owners and developers to fund the costs of replacing cladding, which took far too long and only worked in limited cases.
"When that failed it decided to launch the ACM Fund, following a campaign co-founded by Manchester Cladiators.”

"The Manchester Cladiators, a group of residents working to support affected leaseholders across Greater Manchester, said: “On this third anniversary, Manchester Cladiators send our love and support to the residents, families and wider community affected by the Grenfell Tower tragedy. We also thank Grenfell United for all their valuable work to support thousands of residents affected by cladding and other fire safety issues across the country."