There is widespread coverage today of a report from the National Audit Office which calls on the government to speed up the pace of remediation on buildings with dangerous cladding and set a date for its completion.
More than seven years after the Grenfell Tower fire, the pace of remediation to make homes safe has been far too slow. We welcome the NAO’s report and will consider their recommendations carefully as we set out measures to speed up the pace of remediation in the Remediation Acceleration plan.
Our commitment to improving building safety and accelerating remediation of unsafe housing is backed by an investment of £5.1bn, including new investment to speed up remediation of social housing. We will make those responsible pay for the rest, including through a building safety levy.
As the Prime Minister set out in response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry’s report, this government will deliver a generational shift in the safety and quality of housing for everyone in this country.
We are working with regulators and local authorities to take action - using new tools to identify unsafe properties, and boosting our counter-fraud efforts
The Deputy Prime Minister also recently met with local leaders to call on them to identify buildings in need of remediation and develop plans to accelerate progress.
Building Safety Minister Alex Norris said:
“The pace of remediation to make homes safe has been unacceptably slow. This government is taking action - meeting our commitment to invest £5.1 billion to remove dangerous cladding and making sure those responsible pay for the rest.
“This Government will protect leaseholders and empower regulators to take enforcement action against those building owners who fail to act. Since coming into office, we have ramped up work with local authorities and regulators to speed up remediation and we will set out a Remediation Acceleration Plan soon.”