Dangerous cladding on high-rise buildings to be fixed by 2029, Government pledges

Cladding being removed from a block of flats in London Credit: PA

Dangerous cladding will be fixed on all high-rise buildings on Government schemes within the next five years, ministers will pledge on Monday.

The Remediation Acceleration Plan will set out that by the end of 2029, all buildings over 18 metres tall – defined as high-rise – with unsafe cladding that are on a Government scheme will have been remediated.

Every building over 11 metres tall with unsafe cladding will also have been remediated, have a date for completion or landlords will be liable for penalties by the same date.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner described the plans as “decisive action” and said the “pace of remediation has been far too slow for far too long."

However, campaigners have labelled them as “extremely disappointing” proposals that will “only make a horribly complicated process worse”.

The announcement comes more than seven years after the Grenfell Tower fire killed 72 people.

The inquiry into the 2017 fire found that victims, bereaved and survivors were “badly failed”.

The west London tower block was covered in combustible products because of the “systematic dishonesty” of firms that made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said in September’s report.

End Our Cladding Scandal, a group representing leaseholders impacted by unsafe buildings, said they are “still far from a comprehensive solution” on building safety.

“Labour’s Remediation Acceleration Plan is extremely disappointing. These proposals will only make a horribly complicated process worse with further layers of bureaucracy," the group said in a statement.

“The Government may be patting itself on the back by announcing a target date for all high-rise buildings in government-funded schemes to have been remediated; however, the Building Safety Fund first opened for registrations in June 2020, so a target date of nine years from then is underwhelming.”

It has been more than seven years since 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire. Credit: PA

Ms Rayner said: “More than seven years on from the Grenfell tragedy, thousands of people have been left living in homes across this country with dangerous cladding.

“The pace of remediation has been far too slow for far too long. We are taking decisive action to right this wrong and make homes safe.

“Our Remediation Acceleration Plan will ensure those responsible for making buildings safe deliver the change residents need and deserve.”

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