Julie James, Minister for Climate Change
RAAC is a form of lightweight concrete used in construction in many buildings between the 1950s and 1990s. RAAC is highly aerated with different material properties to conventional concrete. The Welsh Government has been working with the UK Government and other devolved governments since 2018 to consider the potential management implications for buildings with RAAC. In summer 2023, the UK Department for Education reported incidents had emerged over the summer period which gave rise to concern over a potential higher safety risk.
On 8 September 2023 the Minister for Finance and Local Government and the Minister for Education and Welsh Language set out the actions being taken to assess the wider public estate, including social homes, for the presence of RAAC.
As part of the Welsh response to the increased risks highlighted by the UK Department for Education all social landlords were asked to assess their social housing stock for the presence of RAAC. This process has included establishing when RAAC surveys or inspections were last undertaken; the results of those surveys and information about the extent and type of properties where RAAC might be or has been found to be present. Where the existing information did not provide sufficient assurance, detailed surveys of properties built within the relevant RAAC timeframe have been commissioned.
This extensive body of work is progressing well and has resulted in the identification of a small number of Trivallis-run properties in the Hirwaun area where RAAC is present. Specialist surveys of two of these properties has identified remedial action needs to be carried out within six months and the potential for such work to be needed in a further 38 Trivallis properties with the same design. A further 20 Trivallis owned properties and 17 owner-occupied homes have also been identified as having RAAC, of which four are of the same design and construction.
Trivallis, registered social landlord, has responded swiftly to alert residents to the situation and offer support and alternative accommodation to its tenants. My officials are in regular contact with Trivallis.
My thoughts are with all households in Hirwaun, which have been affected by RAAC. I want to thank social landlords for their ongoing work to identify properties built using RAAC.
More information about RAAC is available on our website.