Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many student residential buildings there are in the UK; how many student residential buildings have been tested for ACM cladding; and what steps are being taken to ensure that all student residential buildings are tested for ACM cladding.

The Government’s free testing service at the Building Research Establishment, available to all building owners since June 2017, has confirmed as of 22 May 2018, that 32 private student residential buildings over 18 metres in the private sector with unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding.

In August 2017, we wrote to all local authorities and asked them to identify private sector residential buildings over 18 metres with ACM cladding in their area. We have also asked local authorities to take steps to ensure that appropriate building safety checking and remedial action is being carried out on these buildings and to collate information on this so that we can be reassured that all residents are safe.

We provided financial support to local authorities for data collection and reporting on cladding on high rise private residential buildings, which we recognised as a new burden. The total amount transferred to local authorities was £289,000. The Government is providing further financial support totalling £1 million to assist the most affected local authorities in identifying these buildings.