Around a quarter of £375m Welsh Building Safety Fund spent so far

News16.05.232.15 PM by Stephen Delahunty

More than £91m has been spent so far by the Welsh government as part of its Building Safety Fund on fire safety works, surveys and cladding removal.

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Around a quarter of £375m Welsh Building Safety Fund spent so far on fire safety works, surveys and cladding removal #UKhousing

The Welsh government announced £375m in funding over three years (2022-23 to 2024-25) to fund the remediation work in September last year.

The scheme, which will fund surveys to assess cladding issues and internal problems such as ineffective compartmentation, received hundreds of expressions of interest since its launch.

Buildings taller than 11 metres are eligible to apply to the fund and priority is given to blocks taller than 18 metres.

Following a survey, those responsible for the building will create a ‘fire safety building passport’ setting out what defects have been identified, what remedial action is required and when fire safety measures need to be implemented.

A Welsh government spokesperson said: “In Wales, we recognise that fire safety can be compromised by a whole range of structural defects, not just non-compliant cladding. Our funding is available to rectify fire safety issues in eligible buildings if surveys show that this work is necessary and developers are unable to pay.”

However, a resident group in Wales has previously criticised the government’s approach to the crisis.

In March last year, members of Welsh Cladiators said they believed they were caught up in a “devolution squabble” between Cardiff and Westminster and that there is a “lack of urgency” from the Welsh government.