Government Consultation to “in-effect ban the use of combustible materials in and on the external walls of certain buildings”

On 20 January the Government launched a consultation which will run until 13 April 2020. The consultation deals with the ban on combustible cladding which Lena Barnes and Alexandra Pike blogged on. Click here and here for their blogs. The ban came into force on 21 December 2018. The consultation proposals include:

• extending the ban to hotels, hostels and boarding houses;
• lowering the height threshold of the ban to include buildings with a storey at least 11 metres above ground level (it is currently 18 metres);
• extending the ban to all buildings regardless of height, purpose or use in relation to the use of metal composite materials with a polyethylene core in and on external walls and in specified attachments;
• extending the ban to include solar shading products, including but not limited to blinds and shutters. This appears to have been included as a result of the decision in the British Blind and Shutter case, which I blogged on late last year. Click here for my blog.

Click here for the full consultation.