The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and Homes England have announced the following:
- The Opening of the Cladding Safety Scheme granting thousands more buildings access to government funding to fix dangerous cladding for the first time;
- All buildings in England over 11 metres now have a pathway to fix unsafe cladding, protecting innocent leaseholders from remediation costs;
- Eligible developers have been given 60 days to respond to invitation to join Responsible Actors Scheme committing to make buildings safe; and
- Regulators have warned building owners they will face robust enforcement action if they stall on remediation.
The Government has announced its biggest building safety intervention to date as part of a wider package of measures to help end the building safety crisis across England.
The full opening of the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS), announced in a speech by Housing Secretary Michael Gove, means that costs associated with removing unsafe cladding in mid-rise buildings will now be covered by government funding, protecting leaseholders from costs where the responsible developer cannot be made to pay.
It is estimated that thousands more mid-rise buildings will qualify, giving tens of thousands of residents across England a pathway to a safe home, with no cost whatsoever to leaseholders in the building.
The CSS will be funded by both the £5.1 billion allocated by government to fix the most dangerous buildings and through revenue from the Building Safety Levy on new development.
The Scheme will be available to all medium-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres across England and high-rise buildings over 18 metres outside of London where fire safety professionals have recommended that works must take place. It will also be available to the social housing sector.
All building owners who believe they are eligible for funding need to apply through Homes England Cladding Safety Scheme application portal.
Any leaseholders or residents living in a building they think is eligible for funding will be able to provide further information about their building using Homes England’s ‘Tell Us tool’.
More information can be found here.
