Arup continues with Peckham tower block investigation

Arup is continuing to investigate a series of tower blocks in south London, weeks after residents raised concerns following the Grenfell fire that cracks in the walls could spread a fire throughout the buildings.

Following a meeting with residents last week, Southwark Council wrote to householders on the Ledbury Estate in Peckham saying the structural engineer had not found “anything in their investigations that gives concern about the structural stability of the building but are continuing their assessment”.

In the letter, the council’s strategic director of housing and modernisation Gerri Scott said: “Once their work has finished we will share all their findings with you.”

The council said it was looking to start work filling in the gaps soon.

Scott wrote: “We have already started our level 4 fire risk assessments, which are the most detailed assessments we can carry out, and will be continuing this work on the empty flat on the 6^th floor of Skenfrith House block before sharing a detailed plan of work with you.”

The council said it did not believe that an evacuation of residents from the affected towers would be necessary while repair work was carried out. “At this stage we don’t know exactly what we will ned to ask you to do but we hope that we will be able to carry out this work while you remain in the towers.”

The four towers at the Ledbury estate feature 56 flats per block and are believed to be home to around 200 people per block. They were commissioned and built in the mid-1960s by the then-GLC.