Government sets targets to fix unsafe cladding by 2029

The government have announced “tough targets” to fix all unsafe buildings with cladding by 2029.

The government says its Remediation Acceleration Plan will “ensure rogue freeholders are held to account” and could face severe financial penalties if they fail to act.

The news comes after the debate of the Grenfell Phase two report in Parliament which discussed the findings of the report.

Left living in homes with dangerous cladding

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner said: “More than seven years on from the Grenfell tragedy, thousands of people have been left living in homes across this country with dangerous cladding.

“The pace of remediation has been far too slow for far too long. We are taking decisive action to right this wrong and make homes safe.

“Our Remediation Acceleration Plan will ensure those responsible for making buildings safe deliver the change residents need and deserve.”

According to the government, 95% of buildings with the same cladding as Grenfell Tower have been remediated, and only 30% of identified buildings in England have been addressed, with many more still to be identified.

Comprehensive building register

The government’s remediation plan aims to identify all buildings with unsafe cladding through advanced data assessments and the creation of a comprehensive building register.

It also seeks to protect residents from the financial burdens of remediation while improving their experience throughout the process.

The government will also release a joint action plan with developers to speed up their work on fixing buildings they are responsible for.

At least 29 developers, responsible for over 95% of the buildings they’re fixing, have pledged to double the speed at which they’ve been assessing and starting work on unsafe buildings.

Impossible situtation

The Grenfell Phase two report found the 72 deaths in the Grenfell fire were avoidable due to widespread failings. In a debate in Parliament discussing the report, Ms Rayner promised to deliever change for leaseholders with unsafe cladding.

Pete Wishart, SNP member for Perth and Kinross-shire, told the debate the government is ignoring people who cannot remortgage their properties due to unsafe cladding.

He said: “There is another group of people who I do not think have been properly considered yet: those who have lost their property, or could not remortgage it or sell it at the market rate, because they had cladding issues.”

Ms Rayner says the government will act to ease the costs facing leaseholders.

She told the debate: “Too many leaseholders in buildings requiring remediation are facing unaffordable insurance premiums, and this situation cannot continue. I can confirm that, starting today, we will work with insurers to explore whether, during the remediation programmes, the government might support the industry in reducing fire-related liabilities to lower the high insurance bills that leaseholders are facing.

“As part of our commitment to minimising unfair costs for leaseholders, I can also announce that we are addressing the issue of unfair charges imposed by those managing buildings insurance, and we have launched a consultation on this.”

The Cladding scandal campaign says more needs to be done and has launched a crowdfunding initiative to lobby for change.

One campaigner said: “This has been an impossible situation to be faced with. The general public understandably think the government and the builders are now fixing the problems and the issues have all gone away! Unfortunately, this is not correct. The previous Conservative government did nothing to protect vulnerable leaseholders.

“Innocent victims have been trapped and let down by years of apathy from the Government, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Royal Institution of Surveyors, including lenders recklessly repossessing apartments which still have not had any remedial work carried out and no EWS1 certificate and they are selling to cash buyers for a fraction of the value. This is criminal!”

The campaigner adds the Labour government have failed to grasp the scale of the crisis.

The campaigner said: “It is clear from the recent debate the new Labour government is realising this is a much bigger problem – nobody can provide the correct figures. It is far worse than anyone realises and bankruptcy numbers are mounting rapidly.

“Much more needs to be done to provide financial compensation to those who have been subjected to this human rights scandal and mortgage market failure on a huge scale.”

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