Cladding to be replaced on Cardiff student flats three years after Grenfell Tower fire

Cladding on the blocks will be replaced with solid aluminium of the same colour

Cladding on student flats in Cardiff is set to be removed more than three years after the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in London.

Lumis Student Living on Tyndall Street has aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, similar but less combustible to that on the block where 72 people died in June 2017.

The cladding will be replaced by non-combustible solid aluminium.

Work to make the 602 flats in Cardiff safe was sought and approved in July.

The two blocks of purpose-built student accommodation were originally given planning permission in 2013.

The cladding, installed to prevent rainwater getting into walls, was compliant with earlier building regulations, but more stringent regulations were introduced in 2018 following the Grenfell Tower disaster.

Cardiff Council granted permission for the improvements after an officer's report said the changes were needed "due to concerns over the combustibility of the existing cladding".

However, the report said there had been no consultation or formal publicity about the cladding, "given the minor nature of the proposal".

A spokesman for Viridis Real Estate Services told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "Following the Grenfell Tower fire the Tyndall Street building, which is less than half the height, was certified by the fire officer as of low risk and safe to occupy.

"There is no reason to suppose that the building is any less safe now than it was then. The risk of fire can never be eliminated entirely, but the measures we have put in hand will mean that a risk, already certified to be low, may be further reduced."