Hundreds of high-rise buildings which need to be made fire safe in Wales are still awaiting planning decisions.
The Welsh Government’s latest update on its building safety programme, published last month, shows that of the 461 buildings, 43% have either been completed or have works ongoing on them.
It also shows 47% of the buildings are “in the planning stages”, with the remaining 10% either not requiring works or remediation needs are yet to be identified.
Housing secretary Jayne Bryant said she had met with developers to discuss their progress and performance.
Ms Bryant also said she was pleased to introduce the Welsh Gvernment’s Building Safety (Wales) Bill to the Senedd in July, which aims to clearly establish who is responsible for fixing high-rise buildings with fire defects.
However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) understands campaigners at a recent meeting with the cabinet minister remained critical of the lack of progress being made to remediate peoples’ homes.
All large developers in Wales have signed a Welsh Government building safety pact requiring them to make all buildings of 11m or more in height fire-safe.
The building safety pact was established after the Grenfell Tower of 2017 and aims to avoid a repeat of the disaster.
Nearly three years on from the establishment of the pact, residents and politicians continue their calls for pressure to be put on developers.
In Cardiff, where most of these buildings are located, councillors voted in favour of a motion in February calling on the Welsh Government to be firmer with private developers and make sure work progresses without delay.
Presenting her motion at the time, Butetown councillor Helen Gunter, said she had heard examples of families who were “trapped” in apartments they couldn’t sell.
The Labour councillor added: “Another example of elderly residents who have felt the need to move out of their building while awaiting remediation work because they worry and have anxiety about their ability to leave the building quickly in the event of an emergency."
“They have no idea of timescales so can’t rent out and don’t want to sell the home they love but as a consequence have fallen into the category for increased council tax bills.”
High-rise building safety campaigners in Wales also want developers to be made responsible for more than just fire safety defects.
People living in affected flats have been fighting for years to get developers to pay for these works.
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