Four blocks of flats could have all their cladding replaced if post-Grenfell fire inspections concluded they are unsafe.
Southern Housing has applied for planning permission to replace the cladding on one block at its estate at the top of Pankhurst Avenue.
The homes are on the other side of the road to a block owned by a different housing association, Guinness Partnership, which was destroyed by a blaze in 2019.
That block and two others owned by Guinness have been demolished after it was found missing fire breaks in the roof space meant the fire spread dangerously quickly. Fortunately, nobody was hurt in the fire.
Since the Grenfell fire in 2017, which spread because of flammable cladding, thousands of blocks across the country have been inspected.
The four blocks owned by Southern are now being inspected, and the housing association has put in planning permission to replace the cladding on one block in case inspectors say it needs replacing on all of them.
If approved, it will then be much quicker to get permission to reclad the other three blocks.
A spokesman for Southern Housing said: “At Pankhurst Avenue in Brighton, we’ve four mixed tenure blocks which are part of our comprehensive building safety programme.
“We’re carrying out our own fire risk assessments on all four blocks and will share the findings with our residents, along with any action we need to take.
“Based on our assessments to date, our independent fire engineer is satisfied no interim mitigation fire safety measures need to be put in place at Pankhurst Avenue.
“If remediation work is required at all four blocks, we would likely carry out this work at the same time.
“To avoid any potential delays, we’ve submitted a planning application in advance.
“We were one of the first housing associations to confirm we wouldn’t pass on costs to leaseholders for any fire safety remediation works we undertake related to historic defects (as defined by the Building Safety Act 2022).
“These costs aren’t passed on to residents in our rented homes either. Frustratingly, we still face many challenges which are out of our control and delaying progress in completing works to all our buildings.
“This includes low numbers of qualified engineers available to assess buildings, contractors unwilling to take on complex remediation works, delays in the planning process and a lack of grant funding.
“It’s a situation affecting housing providers across the country.
“Despite this, we’ve been at the forefront of remediation work and been extremely proactive over the past eight years since the Grenfell Tower fire.
“We understand the importance of strong communication and will keep our residents at Pankhurst Avenue updated about any remediation works which are required.”
The planning application says the existing cladding needs to be taken off and a new “breather membrane” and fire-retardant mineral wool insulation put in.
If it’s found to be fire retardant enough to pass current standards – minimum Euroclass A2 – the old cladding can then be put back on.
Timber decking on the block’s balconies would be replaced with aluminium with coating to match the existing timber.
Shortage ???? start looking EU wide for contractors,
Did it slip your memory that we are no longer in the EU and don’t want “Johnny Foreigner” coming over here, taking all our jobs and living in HMO’s! Methinks he doth protest too much. lol
And yet EU Companies actually work here in all capacities, “johnny foreigner” exists only in your head, we have not trained people in this country in any serious way to even think about NOT bringing in contractors from elsewhere, reciprocal working agreements are still in place, they never stopped, just a slight change of title and sometimes address, grow up instead of nibbling in the corners, have a look outside your window,,, do you still think your “Englishmen” do everything ????