WORK is still underway to remove Grenfell-style cladding from two Bradford city centre buildings - but funding applications have been approved for the work to be done, a meeting will hear today.

Councillors are due to discuss Landmark House, on Broadway, and Appleton Point, on Hamm Strasse, at a meeting of the Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee in the latest update on high rise buildings following the Grenfell Tower disaster in June 2017.

Both buildings have cladding made of Aluminium Composite Materials (ACM) - similar to the cladding found on Grenfell Tower and a report issued ahead of the meeting says: “The ACM materials that partially clad the two buildings still need to be removed and replaced.

“The costs of such works are significant, with estimates for the works varying dependent on the requirements relating to the upgrading of the thermal insulation of the buildings as well as the replacement of the cladding.”

The report provides an update on the two buildings and says that in January 2019, an Improvement Notice was served in respect of Landmark House, requiring work to be undertaken to address the hazard of fire, and includes works to remove and replace the ACM cladding on the building.

It says that in the last update to councillors, in October 2019, the notice was subject to an appeal, meaning that it was suspended.

“The appellants withdrew their appeal on March 11, 2020 which means that the notice is now operative again, the date for compliance being February 2021,” says the report.

It adds that Landmark House is, at the time of writing, still subject to interim measures, which are “intended to minimise the fire risk to occupants but are considered a temporary measure”.

The report says: “Officers from the Council and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) continue to monitor the building to ensure that the interim measures remain in operation as agreed.”

It says that a Building Regulations application for the recladding of the building was submitted and approved earlier this year after “thorough scrutiny”.

The report says Appleton House is still empty and a prohibition notice served in February 2019 remains in force, but that “significant progress” has been made on internal works required by the notice.

Residents were given 16 hours’ notice to leave their homes after the building failed a fire safety inspection on February 13 last year.

Bradford Council revealed in April 2019 that its Housing Options team assisted in the evacuation and rehousing of 99 households, with the total costs amounting to £12,410.

The £9 million development opened in 2014 with 160 rooms, and was named in honour of Bradford’s Nobel Prize-winning physicist Edward Appleton.

The report to the committee says: “The Building Management Company has made significant progress with the internal works required by the prohibition notice and officers from the Council and WYFRS continue to work with the owner of the building and their representatives to monitor progress with works required at the property.”

It says the Council’s Building Control unit has been in consultation with the managers of Appleton Point to determine the correct specifications for the replacement cladding.

Government funding is available for privately-owned buildings where ACM cladding needs to be removed and replaced.

Councillors will hear that applications made to the fund for Landmark House and Appleton Point have been approved and the process of finalising funding agreements for both buildings is underway.

The report also sets out that it’s likely many more buildings in the district will be subject to greater scrutiny.

It says: “It is anticipated that under the proposed new Building Safety Regulator the scope of enhanced control will include buildings where the top floor is 11 or 15 meters from the lowest ground level.

“This will bring many more of the district’s buildings under exacting scrutiny as the current threshold is 18 meters. In simple terms, that means that residential buildings of four storeys or more will come under more stringent control.”

The meeting will begin at 5.30pm and can be viewed online.