Residents of high-rise buildings covered in dangerous cladding have been ordered to “live like animals” during replacement work, MPs have been told.
Up to five million people live in blocks with a disguise similar to that which caused the Grenfell disaster.
But action to remove all unsafe paneling has left tenants living without lights or ventilation, in some cases for more than two years.
The housing minister told MPs he would look at new guidelines for builders.
More than 70 people died in the 2017 Grenfell fire, prompting the government to set up the £5.1billion Building Safety Fund to remove dangerous cladding from high-rise buildings across the UK.
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But some residents have been left in what Conservative MP Stephen McPartland has described as “hell on earth” by disguising redevelopment works that involved covering the exteriors of buildings with a plastic sheet.
Those at Mandale House in Sheffield have been told their balconies and windows will be closed for at least two and a half years.
Sheffield Central MP Paul Blomfield described her as “condemned to live in a space with no natural light and no ventilation”.
The Labor MP said: “Really they are being asked to pay substantial money to fix mistakes for which they are not responsible, to enjoy a significant reduction in their quality of life over a very long period of time. It’s obscene what’s happening to them.”
MPs took part in a debate in Westminster Hall, an annex of the Chamber of Commons.
People living in the 19-storey New Providence Wharf in east London had walked through a fire back in May last year which, according to Stevenage MP Mr McPartland, left a mother “sitting on the ground because she didn’t know what child she had left behind”.
“The neighbors came and picked up the other kids and got them out of the smoke,” he said.
“Everything went down, the smoke detectors went down, the fire doors went down – they had all the gear but none of it worked.”
These Canary Wharf residents are also now living in a shrink-wrapped building that now “looks like shredded toilet paper” after last month’s storms, he said, and have been “living in the dark” for the past 12 months.
“You couldn’t treat animals like that,” said the Conservative MP. “It’s a living hell for a number of people who are already at breaking point.”
Mr McPartland suggested the government should use Compulsory Purchase Orders (CPOs) to buy out tenants, demolish the buildings and build new affordable housing through housing associations.
In Ipswich, residents of St Francis Tower expected to live with covered windows for 18 months, said local MP Tom Hunt, who said conditions were so bad: “I would feel guilty if an animal lived [there]let alone my constituents”.
He said: “In these buildings there is practically no natural light at all and bars in front of the windows, which means that even getting fresh air was difficult.”
The Conservative MP called for new legislation to prevent buildings being shrink-wrapped and moving funds to allow residents to move out while construction works.
Housing Secretary Stuart Andrew agreed that such conditions were “unacceptable” and promised to “look at” different types of packaging.
He also said he would heed MPs’ calls for a new code of practice for builders to take the welfare of residents into account when replacing cladding.
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