Ministers set to announce £200m fund to remove Grenfell-style cladding from 150 tower blocks
MINISTERS are poised to announce a £200million fund to remove Grenfell-style cladding from more than 150 tower blocks.
Sources claimed Theresa May will step in after an outcry over the time private freeholders are taking in removing the material.
An announcement could come as early as this week.
An estimated 20,000 people are still living in private leasehold homes thought to be wrapped in combustible Grenfell-style cladding.
Some leaseholders have been forced to mount their own 24-hour patrols to make sure fires don’t break out and engulf their homes.
The move could spark uproar given wealthy property companies will be given taxpayers’ cash despite failing to take any action in the two since the Grenfell blaze which claimed 72 lives nearly two years ago.
One source said: “There are freeholders which need money and can’t afford to take this stuff down.
“But there are others who could be in places like Chelsea.”
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Both the PM and Communities Secretary James Brokenshire are both thought to have lobbied the Treasury for the money in recent days.
Insiders claim the Treasury has given the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government clearance to use money it has saved in the past year – its “underspend” – on the plan.
Mr Brokenshire made £400million available to fix social housing blocks a year ago. Private developers have been expected to carry out their own repairs.
A MHCLG spokesman said: “Due to lack of progress the government is looking at a range of new additional measures to get building owners to do the right thing.”
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