The Government’s new Remediation Acceleration Plan sets out three objectives to ensure that all high-rise and mid-rise buildings with hazardous cladding are made safe by the end of 2029
The new Remediation Acceleration Plan has three objectives:
- Objective 1: fix buildings faster
- Objective 2: identify all buildings with unsafe cladding
- Objective 3: support residents
Housing ministers have been working with local authorities, enforcement agencies and developers since July to resolve the slow pace of remediation.
Revised targets for remediation works are:
- By the end of 2029, all 18m+(high-rise) buildings with unsafe cladding in a Government funded scheme will have been fully remediated
- Also by the end of 2029, every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or the landlords responsible will face severe penalties
The plans also aim to protect residents from the financial burden of remediation by furthering investment in enforcement. This investment will increase the capacity of councils, fire and rescue authorities and the building safety regulator to process more cases yearly. Developers will also double their rate of remediating buildings for which they are responsible.
The Grenfell fire had a seismic impact on the UK construction industry
The newly announced targets would see all remediation works either in progress or complete by 2029- twelve years after the Grenfell disaster, which killed 72 people and has led to numerous building safety reforms.
The inquiry report on the circumstances surrounding the fire concluded that there was “systemic dishonesty” and “decades of failure” from the Government, local authorities and the companies involved in installing the combustible foam insulation and cladding on the tower block.
Only around a quarter of remediation works have been completed as of June 2024.
Prosecutions relating to the case are not expected until 2027 at the earliest.
A lack of skilled professionals to implement the remediation works may hinder the plans
Andrew Parker, head of building safety, Forsters, comments, “The Government’s Remediation Acceleration Plan is seeking to increase the pace of remediation across 18m and 11m residential buildings, putting in place legislation and new regulatory powers to ensure buildings have a clear remediation plan and timeline.
“Ensuring leaseholders have clarity and certainty about the safety of their buildings and the timings of remediation work is welcome but the key challenge, which the Government does acknowledge, is the availability of suitably skilled professionals and contractors qualified to design and implement the required remediation works.
“Regulation will sharpen people’s minds, but the pace can only improve when all parts of the construction industry and regulatory bodies are effectively resourced, and this will take time.”
Leaseholder groups were unimpressed
End Our Cladding Scandal, a group representing leaseholders impacted by unsafe buildings, released a scathing statement on the Remediation Acceleration Plan, calling it “extremely disappointing.”
“These proposals will only make a horribly complicated process worse with further layers of bureaucracy.
“The government may be patting itself on the back by announcing a target date for all high-rise buildings in government-funded schemes to have been remediated; however, the building safety fund first opened for registrations in June 2020, so a target date of nine years from then is underwhelming.”
The group added: “We are still far from a comprehensive solution that will bring about the change innocent leaseholders and residents across the country need and deserve to see.
“There is still far too much uncertainty. Severe penalties will be meaningless without leaseholders and residents knowing for sure when homes will be made fully safe. This ‘plan’ will do little to change that.”
