After the Grenfell fire, massive funds released against dangerous coatings

This envelope of 3,5 billion pounds (about 4 billion euros) brings the total aid of the government to more than five billion pounds.

"This exceptional intervention is the largest investment ever made by the government in building security," Housing Minister Robert Jenrick told MPs.

The coating laid on the Grenfell Tower, in the heart of London, composed of sheets of aluminum composite and polyethylene (plastic), had been blamed in the virulence of the fire which had ravaged the building on the night of the 13th to June 14, 2017, killing 71 people as well as a stillborn baby.

In response to the scandal that followed, the minister promised on Wednesday that holders of very long-term leases in residential buildings at least 18 meters high or six storeys in England will not incur "any cost for the work of rehabilitation of "dangerous coatings."

For smaller buildings, between four and six floors, they will never pay more than 50 pounds a month, "many of them much less", via a system of low-interest loans, he said. insured.

"It is clear that without additional government intervention, many building owners would simply pass these potentially very high costs on to very long-term leaseholders," Jenrick said. "This would risk punishing those who have worked hard (...) (and) who find themselves in a totally unjust situation without their being responsible," he added.

Real estate professionals will also be involved, with a new tax that the government intends to introduce from 2022 on residential development programs, which will raise at least two billion pounds in ten years "to participate in the costs of rehabilitation coatings ".