A fourth building in Reading has dangerous cladding similar to that used in Grenfell Tower, a council report released today has revealed.

Crossway Point, social housing accommodation in east Reading, has combustible Aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding that will be removed.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed in March that three residential buildings in Reading still have dangerous combustible cladding.

Removal of cladding at another building – St. Lawrence House – has already started and will be finished by the end of this month, according to the Reading Borough Council (RBC) report.

The council were notified on September 25, 2019 that Crossway Point had been recently identified as having ACM cladding on it.

A planning application has now been made to remove the ACM and replace it with non-combustible cladding.

The report states: “The council continues to work with the Housing Association to ensure correct measures are in place while the ACM cladding remains on the building.”

Crossway Point is now the fourth residential building in Reading where cladding will be removed because it “failed the required safety standard and is not of limited combustibility”.

The four buildings are:

  • Lawrence House (social housing)
  • Queen’s Court (student accommodation)
  • Hanover House (private residential accommodation)
  • Crossway Point (social housing)

Removal of cladding at Queen’s Court started in July and is expected to be complete by April 2020.

Planning permission has been granted for the removal of the ACM cladding from Hanover House, but it is unclear when the work will start.

Removal work started at Lawrence House in July this year and is to be complete by the end of October.

The council will discuss its progress in responding to the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington on June 14, 2017 at next Wednesday’s Housing, Neighbourhoods and Leisure (HNL) committee meeting.