Flammable Grenfell-style ACM cladding rediscovered in Tower Hamlets Council tower block despite assurances
A 2024 fire inspection showed the cladding on a Poplar tower block was still there after allegedly being removed in 2018, begging the question if more remains in the borough.
Dangerous aluminium composite panel (ACM) cladding has been re-discovered in a council housing tower block in Poplar, six years after the material was banned for building use.
Randall House is a ten-story tower block near the All Saints DLR station. It was built in 2016 by Guildmore, with 60 socially rented units.
The ACM cladding used to build Randall House was banned in 2018, following the Grenfell tragedy. In April of 2018, a joint effort between Guildmore and the Council was supposed to have removed any risky cladding from Randall House.
ACM is a highly flammable form of cladding, thought to have been a primary cause of the Grenfell tragedy. Inquiries found that ACM contributed to the rapid spread of the fire across the Grenfell tower block in 2017. The UK government banned the use of ACM on buildings in 2018 as a result.
In an article from the East London Advertiser in April of 2018, a Council spokesperson said ‘Residents can be assured that their home now has safe fire resistant cladding and I’m grateful to Guildmore for processing this job so swiftly and efficiently.’
The building has since been put on a waking watch, meaning it is constantly staffed by a fire patrol in case of emergency. Prior to this year, residents and the local fire service were unaware that Randall House was at an increased fire risk.
During a meeting on 2 December, Councillor Kabir Ahmed (a Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Inclusive Development and Housebuilding) said:
‘The Council previously had certified [Randall House] as all ACM cladding had been removed, but since these inspections have gone on we’ve identified ACM cladding. So we’ve put an immediate package together and we’ve brought in contractors.’
Councillor Ahmed continued: ‘There are some gaps in how fast we can remedy it because there is permission needed from TfL and other operators within the surrounding area to give us permission to put scaffolding up.’
On a Facebook group for residents, Lucy Mclagan said: ‘Randall House is on fire watch with four fire marshalls constantly watching in case of a fire every 15 mins. […] This is just another case of buildings being built so quickly and not a care for the residents of the block.’
A quarterly review document by the Council said: ‘We are in discussion to place an order to remove cladding [from Randall House] but it is very likely we will need to maintain waking watch until early 2025.’
Two other Council tower blocks, Latham House in Stepney and Johnston House in Bow, have also been put under waking watch for fire safety issues unrelated to ACM cladding.
Last week, the Council also took legal action to force private building owners to remove ACM cladding from a high-rise in Stepney.
Tower Hamlets’ Council housing stock has been managed by Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) since 2008, and was brought back in-house in November 2023 with the intention of improving the service. Transferring the responsibilities of THH back in-house is an ongoing process.
The Slice Tower Hamlets asked Guildmore and Tower Hamlets Council why Randall House was mistakenly certified as free of ACM cladding, and if other buildings built by Guildmore or managed by the Council could potentially still have ACM cladding. Neither responded to a request for comment.
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