Finance Minister, Conor Murphy has announced plans to establish a £1million fund to remove aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding from private residential buildings over 18 metres.
The Minister made the announcement following a meeting with leaseholder representatives of Victoria Place Apartments which has ACM cladding installed on part of the building.
Minister Murphy said:
“The Executive approved the establishment of this fund on 8 July. Since then my Department has worked at pace on development of the remediation fund. We are currently finalising the scheme design and eligibility criteria. Next month the Fund will open for applications and we will also be publishing a call for evidence to identify any other buildings over 18 metres with combustible ACM cladding which have not yet been identified.
“This Fund will protect leaseholders from the cost of replacing unsafe cladding on their homes, provide homeowners with reassurance and bring confidence to the housing market.”
Preliminary research has identified one building here over 18m which has combustible ACM cladding. The public call will provide an opportunity to identify any other buildings over 18m with combustible ACM cladding not identified as part of the preliminary research.
The fund will cover the actual cost for replacement of ACM cladding. It will not cover any existing fire safety measures that are found to be defective when the cladding is removed.