The government will invest £1 billion for the removal of dangerous cladding following the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry, the Chancellor of Exchequer has said.
Speaking about the government’s housing priorities during the Autumn Budget statement on 30 October 2024, which include £5 billion worth of investment and a commitment to build 1.5 million new homes, Chancellor Rachel Reeves made the cladding remediation announcement. She told parliament:
“We will also make progress on our commitment to accelerate the remediation of homes following the findings of the Grenfell Inquiry, with £1bn of investment to remove dangerous cladding next year.”
According to Construction News, the £1 billion investment will be shared between the government’s ongoing Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) and the Building Safety Fund (BSF).
In the latest building safety remediation data release from the Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG), 4,821 residential buildings 11 metres and over in height have been identified with unsafe cladding as of 30 September 2024. Of these buildings, 2,412 (50%) have either started or completed remediation works, while 1,142 (29%) buildings have had their remediation work completed. The data also shows that 42% of building remediation applications made through the BSF have been completed, while there are currently 1,813 buildings going through different stages of the CSS.
“There are an estimated 260,000 dwellings in the occupied private and social sector 11m+ residential buildings with unsafe cladding that the department are monitoring. Of these, an estimated 88,000 dwellings are in buildings that have completed remediation, and an estimated 56,000 additional dwellings are in buildings that have started remediation. An estimated 116,000 dwellings are in buildings that have not started remediation,” the data release states.
As detailed in the Autumn Budget 2024, the government has reiterated its commitment to “improving building safety and accelerating remediation of unsafe housing in response to the Grenfell Tower fire”.
“Investment in remediation will rise to over £1 billion in 2025-26. This includes new investment to speed up remediation of social housing. The government will set out further steps on remediation later this autumn,” the Budget announcement stated.
The government will also allocate funds for the rebuilding of 500 schools in the “greatest need”. £1.4 billion will be invested in rebuilding and a further £2.1 billion will be set aside to “improve school maintenance”.
Responding to the Budget statement, Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC), Mark Hardingham said: “We welcome the government’s commitment to improving building safety and accelerating the remediation programme, including the new investment to speed up the remediation of social housing.
“We also welcome the increase in funding for the school rebuilding programme and urge that fire safety is embedded into any plans to improve the school estate to secure the continued learning of children and afford greater protection to these vital community assets. Sprinklers should be included in all rebuilds or major refurbishment plans as the rebuilding programme takes place – something that NFCC and fire and rescue services have long called for.”
As shared by the International Fire & Safety Journal (IFSJ), industry reaction to the Autumn Budget regarding cladding remediation has been mixed, with concerns raised over the need to address the “root causes of poor fire safety standards” and the need for “additional training and regulatory oversight to ensure long-term fire safety improvements”.
In contrast, Eddie Tuttle, the Director of Policy, Research and Public Affairs at the Chartered Institute of Building, said: “Building safety remains a critical concern for the construction industry, so we were pleased funding for dangerous cladding remediation was acknowledged as part of the budget, particularly in the wake of the second phase of the report into the tragedy at Grenfell Tower.”
You can access the full Autumn Budget statement here.