Enforcement key to new plan to speed up cladding remediation in London as more than 1,000 buildings in limbo

This has been drawn up as a response to the complexity of the previous system, which has held enforcement back and is now being formally signed by councils. 

The LFB has also been given nearly £1m to set up a remediation team. This will fund the fire brigade to prepare legal cases and take enforcement action, as well as tracking and analysing remediation data.

The LFB’s team will have 13 staff members on fixed-term contracts and the funding can be used until 2026-27, according to a mayoral decision to sign off the money last year.

In addition, London now has its own representative on the BSR’s Remediation Enforcement Unit, which was set up in March this year.

The BSR’s unit aims to use enforcement powers to speed up remediation on 18-metre-plus buildings that are on track to miss the government’s deadline and will enforce the upcoming legal duty to remediate set to be created in this parliamentary session.

Another part of the LRAP is the expansion of a joint inspection team run by the Local Government Association, which is staffed by building safety professionals and provides London boroughs with enforcement support.

Other elements of the LRAP, such as improving data access and collection and supporting residents, are more reliant on government action.

This includes the development of a planned National Remediation System, announced last year, which is a “key requirement” for groups in the city.

The database will bring multiple sources into one consistent framework for tracking remediation, but is still being developed.

Building safety minister Samantha Dixon said: “London faces the biggest and most complex remediation challenge in the country and work must be accelerated to unblock unacceptable delays and make homes safe.”

The government is mulling protections for shared owners caught up in the building safety crisis, including potentially allowing leaseholders to sublet at market rates during remediation.

The plan also said that multi-year delivery plans for social housing remediation are “urgently required” to give regulators and residents certainty on progress in this sector, including more transparency and clarity on what it needs to achieve.

Tom Copley, deputy mayor of London for housing, said: “No single organisation can solve the cladding crisis alone. That is why this partnership approach is so important.”

Jonathan Smith, London fire commissioner, said: “We welcome the local remediation acceleration plan for London, which will play an important role in addressing building safety challenges across the capital.”

Charlie Pugsley, acting chief executive of the BSR, said: “We are committed to supporting the ambition to end London’s cladding crisis with the newly established Joint Remediation Partnership Board.”