Understanding the impacts of the UK ‘cladding scandal’: Leaseholders’ perspectives
Following the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, in which 72 people died, it emerged that flaws in the refurbishment – including the use of materials such as flammable cladding – compromised the building’s fire resistance. Subsequent safety inspections of high- and mid-rise buildings around the UK and internationally have revealed major construction defects, particularly in relation to safety standards. However, remediation works are costly, and progress to replace flammable cladding has been unacceptably slow. This has left leaseholders living in potentially unsafe buildings, unable to sell their homes, facing bills of tens of thousands of pounds, as well as ongoing costs for interim measures such as 24-hour fire safety patrols.
This focus article presents the key findings from research conducted by the UK Cladding Action Group (UKCAG) into the mental health impacts of living in a building affected by flammable cladding and/or other fire safety defects. The article first provides some background to the UK ‘cladding scandal’, before highlighting headline findings from the quantitative data and a thematic discussion of additional qualitative comments provided by respondents. It highlights impacts on key life transitions, family formation, and mental and physical health.
The full article is available to read in the People, Place and Policy journal.
Date: May 14, 2021 9:20 am
Author(s): William Martin and Jenny Preece
Categorised in: Cross-cutting
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