Cladding replacement at flats to take 18 months

Replacing cladding on a block of flats will take 18 months but most residents should be able to stay in their homes throughout the work, a developer says.

Material surrounding 215 occupied flats at The Mill building on Ipswich's waterfront does not meet fire safety regulations and needs to be removed.

Developer John Howard, who bought the building for £1 in 2024, said he had secured government funding to pay for the work and it was due to take place between November 2026 and early 2028.

Most residents would be unaffected but "a few people" could have to vacate "for a week at a time", he added.

Howard admitted it would be "tricky" to complete the work around residents but called it a "really big thing" that most would not need to move out.

"If you've got to move 215 flats' worth of people, which probably means 400 people out of the block, that's a massive undertaking," he said.

The government confirmed the funding for the cladding was coming from the Cladding Safety Scheme.

The Mill development includes the blocks of flats and Suffolk's tallest tower.

The 23-storey structure was deemed unsafe in 2013, after gale-force winds tore cladding away, and fire hazards were identified.

Howard said he was in separate "advanced talks" about fixes to the tower and hoped to have an announcement by the end of the year.

He previously told the BBC reducing the height of the building by a few floors was a possibility.

The total cost of the project could reach £40m.

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