Levelling-Up Secretary says mitigation funding for dealing with RAAC in social housing should come from rental income

The Secretary of State for the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has said that that RAAC mitigation funding for social housing should “primarily come from rental income”.

This comes as part of his response to recent correspondence from Clive Betts MP, Chair of the Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Committee, on the Department’s assessment of the risk of Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) in social and private housing.

RAAC is a lightweight form of concrete which was used in schools, colleges and other building construction from the 1950s until the mid-1990s.

Last month, the Government announced that school buildings made with the material should close immediately over concerns of sudden collapse.

In a letter addressed to Lee Rowley MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Local Government and Building Safety), Betts wrote: “Following the Department for Education’s publication of updated guidance on the risk of RAAC in schools and colleges, I would be grateful for an update on the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ assessment of the risk of RAAC.”

On 29 September, the Secretary of State responded saying that, to date, there had been no reported incidents of RAAC failures in residential buildings. 

He reminded all building owners to “continue to follow guidance published by the Institution of Structural Engineers, supported by their identification and assessment guidance published in March 2022 and April 2023”.

He noted that where RAAC is identified, building owners must continue to take a “risk-based, proportionate, and evidence-led approach”.

The Secretary of State’s correspondence also set out the Government’s expectation that RAAC mitigation funding for social housing should primarily come from rental income.

In response to the question of what action the Department is taking to “identify and mitigate” the risk of RAAC in its own estate, Gove noted that the Office of Government Property (OGP) is overseeing the response to RAAC across the public estate through a cross-government working group.

He added: “Since then, departments have been surveying properties and - depending on the assessment of the RAAC - decided to either continue to monitor the structure, reinforce it, or replace it.”

Lottie Winson