Housebuilders pledge £1.3bn for fire safety work on mid-rise blocks

Funds for remediation including removal of flammable cladding still short of 4bn government estimate

Major UK housebuilders have so far promised to spend about 1.3bn to remove cladding and other fire hazards from mid-rise housing blocks, but are still short of the estimated 4bn needed to avoid another Grenfell Tower-style disaster.

On Wednesday Barratt Developments and Redrow were the latest to reveal how much they would put aside to address life-threatening fire safety issues in the housing developments constructed by the firms over the past 30 years. Barratt said the decision would cost it up to 400m, while the figure for Redrow is 200m.