A £248m tranche of an estimated £400m fund has today been handed to councils and housing associations to cover the cost of removal and replacement of unsafe ACM cladding from social homes.
The funding will be shared between 12 local authorities and 31 housing associations.
Announcing the funding allocation, communities secretary James Brokenshire said: “There is nothing more important than ensuring people are safe in their homes and that is why I am pleased the £400m funding has started to be released.
“We are doing the right thing by residents and fully funding the replacement of unsafe ACM cladding in social housing buildings 18 metres or above.”
The latest figures from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government have shown more than 75% of social housing buildings with unsafe ACM cladding have completed remediation, or are currently removing or replacing cladding.
The remaining 25% of social housing with the cladding have plans in place to have it removed.
Applications for 159 buildings have been received to date and 135 were approved in the first funding tranche.
Earlier this month, Brokenshire committed to banning combustible cladding for all new high-rise residential buildings.
In June, PF reported that the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea spent 25% of its reserves to fund the response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
In May, the prime minister announced that she would set aside an estimated £400m to help councils and housing associations remove cladding.
Seventy-two people lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower tradegy last year.
