Can Ipswich buildings meet UK government's cladding dealine?

Building safety minister Alex Norris and Housing Secretary Angela Rayner have recently set strict deadlines for freeholders to follow. 

They said that all buildings over 18m (59ft) should have remediation works completed by 2029, or their owners could face jail time. 

Several buildings in Ipswich have issues with cladding, such as St Francis Tower and The Mill.

John Howard had bought The Mill for £1. (Image: Newsquest) Developer John Howard bought The Mill for £1 earlier this year and has been working with the relevant departments to get the cladding work fixed. 

However, he said: "The deadlines set by the Labour government for the removal of unsafe cladding are challenging and ambitious.

"Achieving these goals will require active support from all stakeholders, including the government, local authorities, the construction industry, and the residents of affected homes, to ensure buildings over 11 metres are made safe as quickly as possible.

Mr Howard had said that he was working with the relevant departments. (Image: Shikhar Talwar) "In Ipswich, we are making significant progress on recladding 215 flats at The Mill, thanks to substantial support from Homes England, the Levelling Up Fund, and Ipswich Borough Council.

"A particularly beneficial initiative has been the replacement of the costly FireWatch system with more efficient fire alarm systems, offering a much-needed financial reprieve for residents across the country while maintaining safety standards."

Churchmans House was put under special measures in July 2023. (Image: Shikhar Talwar) Meanwhile, there are also other buildings in town with severe cladding issues, such as Churchmans House in Portman Road. 

The site has received two grants with the help of Ipswich MP Jack Abbott to do the some works on the site, and its owners have also been given the green light to carry out the initial remediation works on the property. 

Chu Man, of Ipswich Borough Council (Image: Ipswich Labour) However, borough councillor Chu Man, who sits on the board of the Resident Management Company, said the freeholder of the building would need to contribute to the project.

He said: "We can't do that (remediation work) without funding from the freeholder, and for us to get that, we need to go through legal means. But in order to do that, the freeholder needs to know costs, which we can't provide because we need funds in place to do so.

"So, for now, costs for now fall onto leaseholders, until we can recover from the freeholder."

St Francis Tower has been vacant since July 2023. (Image: Shikhar Talwar) Workers were seen carrying out remedial works on St Francis Tower.  (Image: Shikhar Talwar) Work has begun on St Francis Tower, however.

But residents have not been living in the Franciscan Way building due to flooding issues that took place in July 2023 - which is meant to be fixed by spring 2025.

Only after the flooding issue is fixed will the freeholders resume cladding works which had been going on.

Ross Bonner, right, leads the tower's leaseholder group. (Image: Ross Bonner) Ross Bonner has been leading a group of leaseholders speaking to Mr Abbott and the building management of St Francis Tower.

He said: "We are awaiting schedules of work from the freeholder of St Francis Tower as we speak. 

"For both the internal and external works, which we hope will mean the whole building will be remediated by the end of 2025 or in early 2026 at the very latest.

"The freeholder now has all the funding they require, having been granted the full amount to carry out the external works by the government."

Cardinal Lofts' management company is currently looking to buy back leases from residents, and plans have recently been submitted plans to carry out cladding works for the flats in Wolsey Street building.

Building safety minister Alex Norris (Image: House of Commons) The government has pushed for these works through its Remediation Acceleration Plans, for which Mr Norris told Sky News: “I would want people who own buildings that are watching this, who have not been remediating them, to know we are on them, we are after them, and we want those buildings remediated.

"And if they don’t, they will feel the force of the law.

“We have a range of powers already, ranging from fines to prison sentences, that can be used in health and safety cases.