Government considers 18-month remediation deadline for building safety work

Developers have previously complained about delays at the regulator, which has to sign off any fire safety remediation plans. Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation, said the BSR “is struggling to deal with the number of applications received”.

MHCLG said it would present a new “remediation acceleration plan” this autumn.

An MHCLG spokesperson said: “The pace of remediation has been too slow and we are urgently looking at all options to ensure residents no longer have to live in unsafe buildings.

“We will bring forward a new remediation acceleration plan this autumn to speed up the process and we’ll pursue those responsible without fear or favour.”

After the second and final report from the Grenfell Tower Inquiry was published last month, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said he was considering criminal sanctions against businesses that failed to replace unsafe cladding.

Sir Keir said the government will take the “necessary steps” to speed up building safety works.

“We will be willing to force freeholders to assess their buildings and enter remediation schemes within set timetables, with a legal requirement to force action, if that is what it takes,” he said.

“We will also reform the construction products industry that makes this fatal cladding, so homes are made of safe materials, and those who compromise that safety will face the consequences,” he added.

This summer, government data revealed that remediation has still not started on half of the housing blocks with unsafe cladding that have been identified.

Of the 4,630 residential buildings of 11 metres or higher that have unsafe cladding, remediation had not started on 2,331 at the end of July.

Remediation work has either started or been completed on 2,299 buildings. Of these, remediation works have been completed on 1,350 buildings (29%).

Meanwhile, 20% of social housing blocks with life-critical fire safety cladding defects have “unclear” remediation plans, equating to nearly 500 buildings.

MHCLG is currently monitoring cladding on 4,630 residential buildings in England that are taller than 11 metres, half of which have begun remediation.

But Rushanara Ali, the building safety minister, told parliament in September there were thousands more buildings with dangerous cladding that were not showing up in official statistics.

“Counting the buildings we know about is not enough,” she said. “We estimate there are as many as 7,000 buildings that need remediation that have not yet applied for the cladding safety scheme.”