More than 50 tower-block owners refusing to remove Grenfell-style cladding, Theresa May admits

More than 50 tower-block owners are still refusing to remove dangerous Grenfell-style cladding, Theresa May has admitted – seven months after the government vowed to act.

The prime minister was accused of overseeing a “stench of complacency”, putting lives in jeopardy, 19 months after the catastrophic fire in the London high-rise that claimed 72 lives.

Last June, Ms May first threatened to force private owners of blocks to pay up for the work and her then-local government minister vowed that a solution would be “put in place swiftly”.

Facing fierce questioning in the Commons, she insisted cladding had, or would be, removed at more than 200 buildings, but added: “There are 56 owners that are refusing to remediate.”

The admission came after Sarah Jones, a Labour MP, warned the tragedy at Grenfell remained “just the tip of the iceberg”, affecting many thousands of people.

“The prime minister promised, after the Grenfell tower fire, that she would do whatever it takes to keep our people safe,” she said, at prime minister’s questions.

“Today, 19 months on, the vast majority, 85 per cent, of the hundreds of blocks draped in exactly the same highly-flammable cladding are still covered.

“Thousands of council and private buildings across the country don’t have sprinklers, despite the fire service saying they are essential.”

Condemning a “stench of complacency”, the Croydon Central MP added: “When will the prime minister be able to tell this country that she has honoured her promise?”

A clearly discomforted Ms May replied: “We have repeatedly called on private building owners not to pass costs on to leaseholders.

“As a result of our interventions, 212 owners have either started, completed, or have commitments in place to remediate.

“There are 56 owners that are refusing to remediate. We are maintaining pressure on this, but we rule nothing out.”

However, that phrase was virtually identical to the words the prime minister used last June, when she told MPs she was “not ruling anything out” if owners failed to act.

James Brokenshire, the then-local government minister, then announced a new taskforce, vowing it would “hold them [owners] to account where they have unsafe cladding systems”.

The government provided hundreds of millions of pounds to strip combustible cladding from social housing, ahead of a ban on its use on new buildings, which came into force last month.

Ministers also insist they have made significant progress on private tower blocks since last summer, when there were more than 200 with no plans for cladding removal.

However, the latest official figures show that it has been taken off only 30 of 268 buildings, with work having started at another 18.

A further 126 say they “have a remediation plan in place” and 38 say they “intend to remediate and are developing plans”.