Councils spending money on fire safety in tower blocks in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire face an “unprecedented funding gap” unless the government contributes to costs, according to the deputy leader of London Borough of Croydon.
Alison Butler has written to housing minister Alok Sharma requesting a face-to-face meeting to discuss the financial consequences of its £10m programme to retrofit sprinklers in its high-rise housing.
She said the spending will place a long term financial burden on her authority, and that many other councils will face similar issues as they complete similar work.
Butler said: “Croydon may be the first council to invest in urgent measures post-Grenfell, but we recognise that others have far more homes. In London alone, many are also still tackling cladding issues under your department’s instruction. Therefore, the full cost will not become clear for months to come, if not years.”
“Without your help to provide extra funding, local authorities like Croydon that take the initiative on post-Grenfell fire safety in both council and private housing face an unprecedented funding gap.”
She added that in the months since the council committed to installing sprinklers in 26 of its tallest tower blocks, the Department for Communities and Local Government had twice refused to contribute to the programme or relax borrowing rules.
In a statement to Room151, a DCLG spokesman said: “Public safety is paramount and following the Grenfell Tower tragedy we set up a comprehensive building safety programme to ensure a fire like this can never happen again.
“While building owners are responsible for funding fire safety measures in their properties, we have been clear councils should contact us if they have any concerns about funding as we will consider financial flexibilities for essential work to make a building safe.
“We have received additional information in a letter from Croydon Council and we will respond in due course.”
It added that it has not declined any requests for funding for essential fire safety measures.
In September, Simon Blackburn, chairman of the Local Government Association’s safer and stronger communities board, said that councils could not afford the cost of fire safety works to high rise tower blocks without help from the government, although his comments related to removing and replacing dangerous cladding.
