AN apartment building with Grenfell-style cladding has been refused government cash to make it safe.

Managers of St Ann’s Quay block, on Newcastle Quayside, have been unsuccessful in a first bid for funds for the removal of its aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding – and save residents from footing a huge bill that could total millions of pounds.

It was revealed in July that the ten-storey building was the subject of fire safety concerns due to its ACM panels, similar to those that caused the rapid spread of the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.

But the site has not been deemed eligible for support from the Government’s £200m private sector ACM cladding remediation fund, which was set up to pay for replacement of unsafe cladding on high-rise private residential properties if building owners failed to do so.

St Ann’s Quay’s management is now pinning its hopes on a bid to a second funding pot, the £1bn Building Safety Fund, to pay for the vital safety works.

Louise Richley, director at St Ann’s Quays Management Ltd, said the situation was “incredibly concerning” for leaseholders of the building’s 91 flats – with estimates for the potential cost of making the building safe starting at £1.5m.

She added: “We don’t know how long the works would go on for. I would assume that the whole building would have to be scaffolded, but I don’t know whether people would be able to stay in their flats or would have to leave.

“There could be major disruption for people, but it could be sporadic because the building is not all clad. Some flats have 100% cladding, others have none.

“Then there are the decorative fins on the back of the building and the couple of columns on the front.

“I have had a number of people contact me to say how concerned they are about the fact that there is clearly an issue with fire. That is putting aside the time, the cost, the disruption.”

Ms Richley added that multiple safety issues that have only recently emerged were “unfair” on residents who have bought relatively new apartments on a prime Quayside spot and are now unable to sell their properties.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government refused to confirm why St Ann’s Quay was rejected from the first fund, saying it did not comment on individual applications.

The government said it was “currently reviewing registrations” for the Building Safety Fund to establish which applications are eligible.

Around a quarter of the building has cladding on it, mostly at the upper floors, but there are ACM-covered columns that run the length of it and large decorative fins on the St Ann’s Street side.

The building is also understood to have problems with cavity fire stopping, which would help stop a blaze from spreading, and also has timber balconies.

Construction firm Robertson, which built St Ann’s Quay around 20 years ago, said in July that it had “not been made aware of any structural or building issues” and that a 12-year liability period had expired.