Government stumps up extra £3.5bn for highrise cladding – but the plan is full of holes

Those living in buildings over 18m will have their cladding issues fixed but those under that height will have to make do with loans. Both the government and the industry can do better, writes James Moore

Three years after Grenfell many residents in blocks are still unsafe (Getty)

Three-and-half-years since 72 people were killed in the Grenfell fire, tower block residents are still living in buildings containing combustible cladding and wondering: is it going to be me next? 

That’s three-and-a-half years of soaring insurance premiums, homes which have become impossible to sell and leaseholders contemplating bankruptcy as the fire safety bills roll in while developers continue to announce record profits. 

The derelict remains of the tower stand in mute testimony to the dismal response of a government that has moved at the speed of a sloth stuck in quicksand in response to all this.