UK government release Remediation Acceleration Plan summer update

In mid-July, the UK government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government issued an updated policy paper regarding its Remediation Acceleration Plan (applicable to England).

This update is in honour of the department’s commitment to reporting on progress and being clear on any additional measures being brought in to support in the delivery of its objectives.

Those key objectives, as published in the December 2024 Remediation Acceleration Plan, are:

• Objective 1: fix buildings faster – so that those buildings already known to us can be made safe at pace
• Objective 2: identify all 11m+ residential buildings with unsafe cladding – so that every building with unsafe cladding is found and fixed; and
• Objective 3: support residents – so that leaseholders and residents of buildings with unsafe cladding can get the support they deserve throughout the remediation process.

The July progress update covered many areas, particularly on plans to tighten up and advance legislation surrounding remediation, but some key statements included:

• a plan to give social housing landlords access to government remediation funding in line with the access already available to private landlords
• bringing forward a Remediation Bill – a legal duty compelling landlords to remediate their buildings within fixed timescales or face prosecution. This would also include a ‘Remediation Backstop’, a new power to ensure the work is actioned.
• establishing a National Remediation System, serving as a single source of data to improve information-sharing amongst stakeholders
• bringing forward legislation to ensure regulators can enforce the remediation or mitigation of critical issues following a decant of a residential building of 11 metres or taller
• establishing a new Remediation Enforcement Unit within the Building Safety Regulator which would handle the enforcement of 18 metres or taller buildings with unsafe cladding falling behind the Plan’s deadlines; and
• by the end of 2029, every residential building at 18 metres or taller in a government-funded scheme will be remediated, and every 11 metre or taller building with unsafe cladding will either have:

1. been remediated
2. have a date for remediation works to be completed; or
3. landlords will be liable for penalties.

To read the full update on the Plan, and all details pertaining to its progress to date, access the published policy paper on the UK government website.

The updated paper also details the publication of a joint plan between the UK government and the social housing sector. The plan consists of 22 actions aimed at accelerating social housing remediation and improving the lives of residents.

Access the joint plan in its entirety here.