Raac: Unsafe concrete found at Banbury town centre flats

The building remained empty for 10 years until it was bought to provide affordable housing

A council is set to replace the roof of a block of flats that were evacuated due to potentially-dangerous concrete.

Cherwell District Council evacuated Banbury Town Centre House residents earlier this year after reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was discovered in the roof.

It said work by a team of structural engineers to make the building safe was expected to start in the autumn.

The council said it was the only building where it had identified Raac.

Safety fears were first raised over the use of the concrete in schools but it has since been identified in housing blocks, theatres, and other public buildings.

The property was originally an office block until the council secured more than £1m in grants from the Homes and Community Agency to fund a refurbishment.

'Full transparency'

A spokesperson for the council said: "When the associated risks of Raac became known, we took an immediate decision to rehouse residents from Town Centre House to appropriate alternative housing in the district to assure their safety.

"This was completed in early 2023.

"Residents' health and safety and wellbeing is of paramount importance and our housing team have been on hand to support our residents as they moved to alternative accommodation."

The council added that it had "not identified any further action that needs taking" on other buildings.

But Banbury Labour councillor Sean Woodcock said: "I wouldn't be surprised if it was elsewhere in the district."

In an open letter to the Education Secretary he called the crisis an "absolute disgrace", and asked that the government publish a full list of affected buildings.

"We haven't had a full audit and full transparency," he told the BBC.

As the concrete crisis has expanded to include other public buildings, some councils have started to check their portfolios for potential cases.

A spokesperson from the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign compared the current concrete crisis to the ongoing cladding scandal.

They said there was "little clarity" on how many converted offices and factories containing Raac there were.

It said many were "converted in recent years via permitted development rights that allowed developers to bypass seeking planning permission".

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