Manchester ‘unsure’ of start date for final cladding work
Work to remove dangerous material from six of the 12 privately owned high-rise residential blocks in Manchester found to have unsafe cladding has yet to start, according to the city council.
The blocks in question are:
- Citygate 1 – 1 Blantyre Street
- Citygate 2 – 3 Blantyre Street
- Citygate 3 – 5 Blantyre Street
- The Quadrangle – 1 Lower Ormond Street
- X1 Eastbank Tower – Advent Way
Manchester City Council said in a report to its executive committee later this week that it is “unsure” when the work will begin, although two of the original 12 buildings have been fully remediated and work is underway on four others.
Unsafe cladding was removed from two buildings in Manchester’s Green Quarter – Cypress Place and Vallea Court – earlier this year. A further four buildings were identified as having unsafe cladding and work to remove and replace it has begun. These are:
- One Smithfield Square – 122 High Street
- Pall Mall House – 18 Church Street
- Vita Student – First Street
- Wilmslow Park – Hathersage Road
The council said work to remediate these buildings will begin as soon as possible, according to information from the council’s building control department.
The Travelodge hotel on Great Ducie Street also has unsafe cladding, but a timeline on when remediation work will begin is unknown as the building’s owners have been unresponsive, according to the council.
By the end of last month, all of the dangerous aluminium composite material cladding, the same material used on Grenfell Tower in London, had been removed from 14 blocks owned by registered housing providers, the council said.
In March, Chancellor Rishi Sunak pledged £1bn towards making buildings safer by replacing dangerous facades on blocks taller than 18 metres.
However, residents of one building, Skyline Central off Rochdale Road, have been told that they are not eligible for funding because work to remediate the block had already begun before Sunak’s announcement.
The residents had agreed to take out a loan from their landlord to cover the cost of cladding replacement and are unable to qualify for any Government support as a result. Leaseholders are now taking legal action in an attempt to overturn the decision.