In February 2021, The Government announced a £5 billion investment that it will pay for unsafe cladding to be removed on high rise buildings. This follows the 2017 Grenfell Tower Fire in which 72 people died. In depth reviews revealed the plastic and aluminium cladding which covered Grenfell Tower to be the reason that the fire spread so quickly. This tragic event highlighted the considerable number of other buildings that are similarly unsafely cladded. Unsafe cladding puts the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents living in these buildings at great risk.

To prevent any future cladding related incidents, The Government are implementing the following 5-point plan:

1. The Government will pay for unsafe cladding to be removed from buildings that are 18 meters or taller.
2. A long term and low interest finance arrangement will aid the removal of cladding on buildings between 11 and 18 meters tall.
3. A new industry levy and tax for UK residential property developers will raise at least £2 billion over the next decade to contribute towards the large-scale cladding removal.
4. Strict legislation and building regulations will ensure building safety to prevent any future malpractice.
5. The result of these measures should provide confidence in the housing market and all parties involved.

The Government is also reviewing the problematic External Wall Safety (EWS1) forms which were introduced in December 2019. The circumstances surrounding Grenfell Tower led mortgage lenders to request safety assurance of external wall systems before giving approval. The EWS1 forms were intended to provide this assurance. However, a lack of qualified professionals who are able to carry out the EWS1 assessments has resulted in huge delays. This, along with the cost of the assessments and a reluctance from building owners to acknowledge their responsibilities has left hundreds of thousands of people unable to sell or re-mortgage their homes, effectively leaving them stuck. Although this is an important proposal, it is not yet clear how these issues will be resolved.

The Government’s 5-point plan is an important step which addresses a critical issue. However, the Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee have previously suggested that costs will be closer to £15 billion (£10 billion over budget). Furthermore, cladding specialists Colmore Tang Construction have estimated that the full nationwide cost will in fact reach £50 billion. Colmore Tang reached this estimation by applying their pricing structure to the 5,000 buildings 18 meters or taller which require EWS1 certification. They did the same for the 35,000 11 to 18 meter buildings and then made an optimistic valuation as not all of these buildings will definitely require cladding remediation. While the outcome of the 5-point plan remains to be seen, steps are being taken in the right direction.

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