Almost a third of buildings with Grenfell-style cladding yet to undergo removal work
Almost a third of the buildings still wrapped in Grenfell-style flammable cladding have yet to undergo work to remove it, figures have shown.
A nationwide safety operation was launched in the wake of the 2017 disaster after the aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding blamed for fuelling the inferno was found on hundreds of buildings.
It has so far been identified on 458 high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings, an increase of three since the end of June, the latest Government data revealed.
However, unsafe ACM remains on 243 of these buildings, of which 135 - 29 per cent - have not seen any remedial work begin, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) said.
Ninety of the outstanding buildings have a remediation plan while 39 reported an "intent to remediate and are developing plans" and the proposals are "unclear/awaiting further advice" for six.
ACM cladding systems are no longer in place at 215 buildings, according to the statistics.
The MHCLG said: "There are 243 high-rise residential and publicly owned buildings still with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations in England - a decrease of three since the end of June.
"Of these, 108 buildings have started remediation - an increase of four since the end of June."
The Grenfell Tower fire - which left 72 dead - began when flames entered into the cladding system from a fourth-floor kitchen, before shooting up the block's external face with devastating speed.
It led the Government to ban the use of combustible materials on new high-rise homes, with emergency remediation work ordered on existing buildings.
On Thursday, it was revealed the buildings where work was yet to begin included 10 social sector residential, 102 private sector residential, five student accommodation, 13 hotels and five listed as publicly owned.
Figures outlining the overall progress show remediation has been fully completed at 158 buildings, works have been completed but awaiting sign-off at 18 buildings, and remediation has started with the cladding removed at 39 buildings.
Labour has previously warned thousands of people remain living in buildings wrapped in cladding which needs replacing and insisted the Covid-19 pandemic cannot be an excuse for failing to take swift action.
MHCLG said: "During Covid-19 restrictions, we know that 81 sites paused work on remediation and, as at July 31, 81% of those have resumed remediation works."
