5 things we learned from the Remediation Acceleration Plan

Unlimited fines or imprisonment for building owners that do not meet new targets

Strict deadlines are being set as part of the government’s Remediation Acceleration Plan, which will include new legislation that will be brought forward as soon as the parliamentary timetable allows.

The government’s Remediation Bill will require landlords of buildings that are 18 metres or taller with unsafe cladding to complete remediation by the end of 2029. For blocks between 11 and 18 metres, remediation will need to be completed by the end of 2031.

Building owners that fail to comply without reasonable excuse could face unlimited fines or imprisonment.

The plan intends to inject certainty into which buildings need work completed and who is responsible, alongside obligations for assessing and completing building safety work through a ‘legal duty to remediate’, with severe consequences for non-compliance.

There will also be a government backstop to help bring an end to the building safety crisis, and residents will be given greater control in situations of acute harm where landlords have neglected their responsibilities.

Access to funding for shared ownership and more rights for shared owners

As part of the changes to the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) guidance, shared ownership homes will now also have access to remediation funding.

£1bn was announced during the Spending Review when the government first confirmed that the social housing sector will have equal access to remediation funding under the CSS.

In another change, social landlords will now have to allow shared owners to sub-let all properties in England affected by the building safety crisis at up to market rent level, providing that shared owners try to sell after remediation is completed.

Plus, housing associations must recognise that selling as a shared owner can be a complicated process, even after remediation.

Therefore, landlords must work with shared owners to make sure they apply flexibility where demonstrable efforts are being made to sell the property, and will publish these policies on their website.

Inside Housing reported in May how a housing association apologised for a family’s “distressing” experience after it raised rents on a shared ownership flat while the family struggled to sell the home due to cladding issues.

More powers for Homes England and metro mayors

Alongside the new deadlines for completing the work, social landlords have to obtain a fire risk assessment and – where needed – an up-to-date Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Walls (FRAEW) report for every 11 metre-plus residential building by December 2027.

Landlords are expected to use the new National Remediation System to identify unsafe buildings, administered by Homes England.

This single dataset will cover information on all relevant residential buildings that are taller than 11 metres and allow for information-sharing among regulators, delivery partners and local authorities.

The government’s housing and regeneration agency will make available to the sector a panel of fire safety engineers to assist with carrying out those safety assessments.

Homes England will commission independent audits of assessments carried out by social landlords. This will be done on both grant-funded units and on self-funded units to make sure that there is independent validation of the works required.

At a local level, metro mayors are expected to help drive through work in their areas with a £5m boost in support.

Through ‘local remediation acceleration plans’, mayoral strategic authorities will work closely with regulators and draw on local expertise to drive progress in their areas.

It will now also be mandatory for local authorities to continue collecting and reporting on the remediation of social housing.

Funding for blocks under 11 metres in ‘exceptional circumstances’

To help ensure that cladding remediation funding is driven by risk, rather than an arbitrary height requirement, the government will provide funding in exceptional cases where multi-occupied residential buildings under 11 metres have life-critical fire safety risks from cladding and do not have an alternative route to funding.

The the End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) campaign group said: “Ensuring there is a funding solution for buildings under 11 metres at the end of the case-by-case audit approach is also vital. But, as we have grown used to saying over the years, the devil will be in the detail and many questions remain on the plans outlined.”

Where residents have to be decanted from their homes for work to be completed, the government will introduce legislation to ensure that the vast majority of decants are avoided through prompt intervention, or where decants are necessary, residents can return to their homes as quickly and safely as possible.

Nothing on non-qualifying leaseholders or non-cladding defects

Despite a number of positive changes, EOCS pointed out that there are still some gaps in the plans. The group described it as disappointing that there was no update for non-qualifying leaseholders or on how non-cladding defects will be fixed quickly.

This gap is significant as Inside Housing has previously reported how one shared owner was hit with a cladding bill of up to £23,000 as her low-rise house does not fall under protections in the Building Safety Act.

EOCS added: “We are still no closer to an end to the buildings insurance extortion suffered by innocent leaseholders for years, with Labour choosing to collect yet more data rather than intervene and hold the insurance industry to account. Even where flats have been remediated, these costs continue to impact service charges dramatically and prevent lending. A state-backed insurance scheme is long overdue.

“It is unclear when there will be parliamentary time for the Remediation Bill and, as we all know, legislation will not take effect overnight. Changing behaviours also takes time. Eight years after Grenfell, with hundreds of thousands still trapped across the country, this is time none of us have.”