Following the publication of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Report in September 2024, the government has been determined that remediation of dangerous buildings will not fall by the wayside.
It’s been more than seven years since the fire and yet, of the 4,834 buildings 11 metres and over in England that have been identified with unsafe cladding, work has been completed on just 1,436, a state of affairs the government rightly considers unacceptable. It has published a Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) setting out its objectives to speed up remediation, identify unsafe buildings and support residents.
Objective 1: Fix buildings faster
The new objectives come with new deadlines. By the end of 2029, private sector residential buildings 18m or over (high-rise buildings) must have completed remediation, and buildings 11m or over must have a set remediation completion date. Th e government expects remediation work on high-rise buildings to start by the end of 2025 at the latest, and by the end of March 2025 for buildings with ACM cladding.
There will be new financial and criminal liability sanctions for non-compliance. The government has pledged a new Remediation Enforcement Support Fund to give local authorities and fire and rescue authorities access to legal advice, with the aim of doubling current levels of enforcement activity. Additional funding for mayors and local authorities will support the implementation of Local Remediation Acceleration Plans (Local RAPs). The government is also working with the Building Safety Regulator, encouraging it to play a more prominent role in monitoring, enforcement and accelerating the pace of remediation by creating a new Remediation Enforcement Unit.
Increased enforcement action is central to the government’s commitment to accelerate the pace of remediation works but it also recognises that progress on some buildings can be delayed due to reasons outside a developer’s control, something the government has promised to address.
The RAP introduces a new voluntary Joint Plan to accelerate progress on developer-led remediation and improve resident experience. 39 developers have joined the plan which includes 35 commitments. This Plan is separate from, and does not change, the Developer Remediation Contract signed by 54 developers and government.
In all, 2,539 social housing buildings 11m and over in England have been found to have unsafe cladding and yet remedial works have started or been completed on only half of these buildings.
Many social landlords face challenges including access to funding, slow cost-recovery from developers and limited project management capabilities, in addition to other housing quality issues such as damp and mould. The government will review options for overcoming these barriers and announce a long-term strategy in Spring this year.
There are often layers of corporate ownership above the freehold interest in a building, making it difficult for enforcement bodies to identify who is responsible for remediation.
The government will give the Secretary of State and regulators powers to compel entities to disclose their beneficial ownership chains and will require them to register their beneficial ownership information as part of its plans to expand the existing Building Register.
Objective 2: Identify all buildings with unsafe cladding
There are an estimated 4,000 to 7,000 unidentified buildings 11m and over in England with unsafe cladding. Current rules only require registration of high-rise buildings on the Building Register, even though government funding is available to remediate 11 to 18m high buildings. Th e government will require the registration of all 11 to 18m high residential buildings to bridge this gap.
Homes England is investigating over 540,000 building records to identify buildings that may have unsafe cladding and require assessment. The outcome of these assessments will be shared with local authorities and mayors as part of Local RAPs.
Objective 3: Support residents
Developers who sign the Joint Plan must sign up to the government’s Code of Practice for the remediation of residential buildings which includes giving residents and leaseholders information packs about remedial works and letters of comfort to help them to insure or sell their homes.
Buildings insurance premiums for leaseholders in buildings with fire safety issues are unacceptably high, with some residents facing annual bills of over £3,000. An ongoing consultation is looking at how to protect leaseholders from excessive fees for arranging insurance by introducing a ‘fair and transparent permitted insurance fee’.
The Waking Watch Replacement Fund has been extended until March 2026. Other steps include:
- Building Safety Levy – This long-anticipated levy will come into force in Autumn 2025. It will be charged on all new residential buildings in England that require building control approval, with some exceptions. The rates have not yet been announced but the government aims to raise around £3.4bn over the next 10 years to supplement the existing £5.1bn public fund allocation.
- Ensuring capacity and value through the supply chain – some companies within the remediation industry say they face uncertainty around how much remediation work there will be in the future. Th e government will publish pipeline data from its major remediation programmes to help generate confidence for contractors and encourage investment in skills, resource and training.
- Construction products – the government has also confirmed that it will take action against construction product manufacturers with a new Construction Products Standard likely to be published in 2025.
The government will provide an update in Summer 2025 assessing progress and outlining further necessary steps.
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