RAAC is a form of concrete that can erode over time, leading to possible collapse. It was used mainly in the 1950s due to low cost, and has been identified in some schools, however, it is also thought to have been used in housing.
In a letter to Lee Rowley, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the Department for Levelling Up (DLUHC), Betts called on the department to assess the risk of RAAC in residential and non-domestic buildings.
He called for the DLUHC to clarify its latest guidance for residents and landlords on the risk of RAAC for social housing and the private renters sector, and asked whether there were plans to update the guidance following the recent action from the Department of Education.
The DOE issued updated guidance for schools impacted at the end of August.
Betts asked the DLUHC to identify what its guidance was for local authorities on RAAC risk and their estates and what financing may be available to social housing and local authorities’ estates.
He also called for the DLUHC to outline action taken to “identify and mitigate” the risk of RAAC in public buildings in its own estate.
Betts noted that as the DLUHC had “overall responsibility for building safety remediation and regulation regimes” there should be a clarification of what role it was taking in the “cross-government response” to the risk of RAAC.
Betts said: “There are well-publicised concerns about the use of RAAC in public buildings such as schools and hospitals but there is also concern about the use of RAAC in housing.
“It’s important the government spells out its assessment of the risk in residential buildings, in social housing and local authorities’ estates and what guidance it is giving to residents and landlords on the risk of RAAC.”
