Chelsea Mace, trainee solicitor in construction law at Clarke Willmott, discusses what will be big in the construction industry in 2025
The construction industry is set for another year of major change, with some significant pieces of legislation coming into effect – and legislation already in effect starting to have an impact in practice. This is happening against the backdrop of the new Labour government, which is determined to use housebuilding to help drive economic growth.
In this article, I will focus primarily on three areas set to affect the construction landscape in 2025: the Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP), the Building Safety Act and the government’s stated target of building 1.5 million new homes over five years.
Taking the RAP over unsafe cladding
In the wake of the inquiry into the Grenfell Tower tragedy and following the enactment of the Building Safety Act in 2022, the government is implementing further measures to address the estimated 4,000-7,000 buildings in England that have unsafe cladding still to be identified or rectified, by way of the new Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP).
This is aimed at expediting the removal of this unsafe cladding, with remediation works expected to start by 31 March 2025 for buildings over 18m and as soon as possible in 2025 for buildings over 11m.
The aim of the RAP is that by the end of 2029, all buildings over 18m with unsafe cladding, where government funding is available, will have been remediated and that every building over 11m with unsafe cladding will have been remediated or have a date for completion.
The RAP is no more specific than referring to “unsafe cladding” and “cladding remediation”, so while the scope of fire safety defects covered within the RAP may not be clear, landlords should assume the widest interpretation so as not to be caught out and subject to penalisation.
The RAP aims to speed up the process of making these homes safe by focusing on three key objectives:
- Fixing buildings faster: The RAP intends to expedite remediation of high-risk buildings with clear deadlines and penalties for non-compliance.
- Identify all unsafe buildings: Identify all buildings with unsafe cladding through advanced data assessments and the creation of a comprehensive building register.
- Support residents: Protect residents from the financial burdens of remediation and improve their experience throughout the process.
The government is expected to publish a further update on the plan in the summer and commit to bringing forward a long-term social housing remediation strategy in the spring. Before then, it will begin to accelerate the remediation of social housing by incentivising social housing landlords to apply for government funding and increased targeted support if they are eligible.
The RAP does not spell out how remediation will be funded by those landlords whose buildings are not eligible for government funding and where the original contractors at fault are uncooperative. We anticipate that more is to come on this as the RAP progresses.
Nonetheless, landlords have several key actions to take: To review their developments, as the RAP is a reminder that inaction is unacceptable; to ensure that they have considered if they are eligible for funding on all of their developments; to identify all of their developments with unsafe cladding and register them; and to inform, consider and take reasonable steps to mitigate the impact on residents.
The Building Safety Act
The Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) is the primary piece of legislation enacted following the publication of an independent report by Dame Judith Hackitt (“Building A Safer Future”), which addressed the much-needed reform of building safety legislation in direct response to the Grenfell fire. Many of the detailed provisions in the Act have been implemented over the last two years through a secondary legislation programme, so we can now begin to see the changes the BSA has made in practice.
Its main goal was to tackle the systemic issues that caused the tragedy by implementing additional measures to guarantee that buildings meet the highest safety standards, particularly tall and “high-risk structures.” These are classed as buildings of more than 18m in height or those with seven or more storeys and two or more residential units.
The BSA introduced a more robust regulatory framework to ensure the safety of residents, addressing issues highlighted by tragedies like Grenfell. Key provisions include mandatory safety assessments, clearer accountability for building safety, and the establishment of three new bodies to provide effective oversight of the new regime: the Building Safety Regulator, the National Regulator of Construction Products and the New Homes Ombudsman.
The Act introduced a range of measures, ensuring that those responsible for building safety are held liable for any defects that emerge. Alongside revamping existing regulations, it established a clear framework for how residential buildings should be designed, maintained, and kept safe.
In 2024 we also saw further amendments to the Building Safety Act being introduced through the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. A new duty has been introduced on Insolvency Practitioners who are appointed to the insolvency of the owner or leaseholder of a residential building, which is at least five storeys/11m high, to notify local authorities and fire and rescue services of their appointment. In the case of higher-risk buildings (at least seven storeys or 18m in height), the Building Safety Regulator must also be advised.
Time to get building
Of course, these new pieces of legislation are coming into force as the Government spells out its determination to build more homes as a spur to growing the UK economy.
The “Get Britain Building Again” programme has set the target of constructing 1.5 million new homes in England over a five-year period, with 240,000 of these being social housing units, at a time when labour shortages remain a significant problem for the sector, with employment in construction still 10% below pre-pandemic levels.
The ambitious programme will be guided by a revised National Planning Policy Framework, prioritising brownfield redevelopment and selective greenbelt land release (referred to as grey belt). The plan also includes support for New Towns and infrastructure improvements.
Meanwhile the Government has now pledged to make it easier for housing to be built around key locations such as train stations. When developers submit an application for “acceptable” types of schemes in areas of high housing potential near transport hubs, the default answer to development will be “yes”.
The government also reiterated that it is looking to streamline decisions on critical infrastructure projects by “slashing red tape” in the planning system, which is holding up projects. It will look at input from expert bodies which developers are required to consult and replace current systems of environmental assessment.
Ministers have previously announced they are looking at plans to create a new fund as a way for developers to meet their environmental obligations in a bid to boost housebuilding. Earlier this month, they announced plans to speed up the construction of major infrastructure projects by reducing the ability of activists to challenge them in the courts.
