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Building safety minister and NHF exclusive: equal access to building safety funding is a watershed moment for social housing
Building safety minister Alex Norris and National Housing Federation chief executive Kate Henderson write a joint exclusive comment piece for Inside Housing about how policy is changing so social and private sector landlords will have equal access to remediation funding, heralding a genuine partnership between the housing sector and government
Alex Norris MP is building safety minister, and Kate Henderson is chief executive of the National Housing Federation
Building safety minister Alex Norris and the National Housing Federation chief executive Kate Henderson write a joint exclusive comment piece for Inside Housing #UKhousingThe Grenfell Tower tragedy laid bare the consequences of successive failures within governments and industry, which led to the needless and devastating loss of 72 lives. It also exposed, in the starkest terms, the scale of the building safety crisis facing this country.
Nearly 2,800 mid and high-rise social housing buildings have since been identified as having unsafe cladding and for the estimated 100,000 people living in buildings still awaiting works, the wait for remediation has been far too long.
Social landlords have faced particular challenges in making these homes safe. Despite their responsibility to some of the most vulnerable residents, they’ve had limited access to the upfront funding needed to assess and fix buildings – that has meant they have had to divert resources from building the affordable homes this country urgently needs, significantly reducing the supply of new affordable homes, particularly in London, the area of greatest housing need.
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Resident safety is the top priority for both the government and housing providers. But for too long, the system for providing state funding for remediation did not treat all residents equally.
We can’t allow this disparity to continue – and that’s why the government is announcing we have changed the rules of the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) to give social landlords the same access to government remediation funding as private landlords, underpinned by this government’s new investment of over £1bn, marking a break from the past and a commitment to fairness, safety and action.
Until now, while private building owners could access funding once serious safety defects were identified, social landlords were only eligible for funding to fix homes owned by leaseholders or by demonstrating that paying the full remediation costs themselves would threaten their financial viability.
As a result, social landlords received just 17% of government remediation funding despite being responsible for 53% of affected residential buildings. This has slowed down vital safety works and construction of new affordable homes for too long.
The joint plan we are publishing this week, developed through close collaboration between the government and the social housing sector, removes the barriers that have held social landlords back and outlines the partnership going forward. It means that social tenants will no longer be left behind – and that their homes will be made safe, faster.
Together, this plan and investment will accelerate progress. A total of 114 social landlords, accounting for over 80% of social buildings still requiring remediation, have already committed to meet the plan’s stretch targets – ensuring that by the end of 2029, every 18 metre-plus residential building in a government-funded scheme will be remediated, and every 11 metre-plus social housing building with unsafe cladding will either be fixed or have a clear date for completion.
This is what genuine partnership between the government and the housing sector can deliver: confronting challenges head on, setting bold ambitions, and driving transformational, lasting change through decisive action. It is a major step forward, and while the journey isn’t over, it brings us closer to ending the building safety crisis and giving every resident the safe home and peace of mind they deserve.
Alex Norris, building safety minister, and Kate Henderson, chief executive, National Housing Federation
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