Nova House may not be eligble for £400m government cladding fund

A £400m Government pledge to remove dangerous cladding from tower blocks may not apply to a building in Slough with the same cladding material as Grenfell Tower.

Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Wednesday, May 16 that the Government was committed to spending about £400m to pay for councils and housing associations to replace potentially dangerous cladding from high-rise blocks.

In March, Slough Borough Council (SBC) bought Ground Rent Estates 5 LTD, the freeholding company of Nova House, a tower block in Buckingham Gardens which failed a cladding safety test after the Grenfell Tower disaster. But the seven-storey block may not be eligible for Government money, as it is still owned by a private company.

An SBC spokeswoman said: “They seem to be quite specific that it’s council buildings and housing association buildings.”

She said SBC would look into the possibility of securing funding for the site. It will also ask for funding for council-owned Broom House and Poplar House, which have different cladding to Grenfell Tower’s aluminium composite material cladding.