Residents fear new rules could mean dangerous cladding is left on blocks of flats
Residents in UK tower blocks are expressing concern over new fire safety regulations that may allow flammable cladding to remain if the risk is deemed 'tolerable'. Despite a recent fatal fire in a London block, residents fear developers will use these new standards to avoid costly remediation work.
Why it matters
The tension between building safety standards and developer costs remains a critical issue for housing policy and public safety in the UK.
Image caption, Natasha Parcell is living in a hotel following a fire in the tower block where she owns a flat
When Natasha Parcell first got her foot on the property ladder little did she expect to be one of the latest victims of the cladding crisis.
"I was really excited to have something of my own," she says, "[but] very quickly in the first year I was told it was actually no longer safe or mortgageable."
The 33-year-old is currently living in a hotel after being evacuated from her flat, in east London, following a fatal fire in her tower block earlier this month .
All she was able to take with her were some plastic bags filled with clothes.
The blaze came just a day after residents got approval to have all the flammable cladding on the building removed.
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