Recommendations & Conclusions
46 items
2
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
Insufficient capacity and skills across regulators, local authorities and the construction sector risks undermining MHCLG’s acceleration plans. In 2020, the previous Committee warned that skills needed for remediation work would come under pressure as the scope of government’s programmes increased. With MHCLG now planning to accelerate remediation, there are risks …
Government response. The government agrees to write to the Committee by July 2025, setting out actions taken to ensure sufficient capacity in the remediation system, detailing examples of ongoing work such as funding for the BSR, bringing in additional inspectors, and working …
HM Treasury
3
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Acknowledged
We are appalled that those living in affected buildings continue to suffer an unacceptable financial and emotional toll. Far too many people continue to feel trapped in unsafe homes, many facing financial uncertainty and many unable to sell their homes and move on with their lives. Residents face ongoing delays …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation to provide annual updates but instead provides an overall remediation target for Summer 2029, without detailing how it will report on resident engagement, the ‘Tell Us Tool’, dispute resolution, Code of Practice adherence, or …
HM Treasury
4
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
MHCLG is not doing enough to manage the risk that residents in affected buildings face exorbitant insurance premiums in the long term. The previous Committee raised concerns in 2020 about the spiralling insurance costs faced by residents awaiting remediation and MHCLG committed to working with insurers to address them. MHCLG …
Government response. The government agrees and is continuing to work with industry to gather data on insurance costs before, during, and after remediation. This data will inform its consideration of supporting the industry to reduce fire-related liabilities and it has asked the …
HM Treasury
5
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Rejected
Eight years on from Grenfell, we are concerned that MHCLG still does not know how many buildings have dangerous cladding, how much it will cost to address, or how long it will take. MHCLG’s latest estimate, that 9,000 to 12,000 buildings will need remediating at a total cost of between …
Government response. The government disagrees with the implied recommendation from the conclusion, stating it is consulting on redress routes as part of the Construction Products Reform Green Paper and that leaseholders and tenants are protected from cladding remediation costs.
HM Treasury
6
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
MHCLG’s previous attempts to speed up remediation exposed the taxpayer to increased risk of fraud. When MHCLG launched its high–rise Building Safety Fund in 2020 it relaxed a range of taxpayer protections in order get money out to projects quickly. While this approach has since been reversed, a potential loss …
Government response. The government agrees and will use initial findings from fraud measurement exercises to strengthen counter-fraud controls and share learning across the Ministry and with the PSFA. Full outputs for the fraud loss measurement exercise are expected by Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
7
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We are not convinced that MHCLG is taking the potential impact of its remediation plans on wider housebuilding targets seriously enough. The government has pledged to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament. The construction sector is reporting workforce shortages. There is a risk that MHCLG’s approach to remediation could …
Government response. The government agrees and commits to publishing an impact assessment of its remediation policies, including the Building Safety Levy, alongside draft levy regulations later this year.
HM Treasury
1
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
On the basis of a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Ministry for Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG) and Homes England on remediating dangerous cladding.1 We also heard evidence from the Home Builders’ Federation, The National Housing Federation, the Local Government Association and …
Government response. The government agrees with the implied recommendation, committing to provide an update to the Committee in Autumn 2025 on policy and legislative changes for the Remediation Acceleration Plan and progress in identifying dangerous buildings. It is also working towards creating …
HM Treasury
8
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We asked MHCLG how its new plan would speed up the remediation process. MHCLG told us that its Ministers were committed to speeding up the pace of remediation. The Plan introduced a target that by the end of 2029 all buildings over 18 metres will have been remediated, and those …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan in Summer 2025, providing an update to the Committee in Autumn 2025, which will address policy and legislative changes, including creating a legal duty for 11m+ building owners to …
HM Treasury
9
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
The Plan identified several barriers to remediating at pace and outlined the steps MHCLG was taking to address them. Some of these barriers are those MHCLG told the previous committee about in 2020, including landlord reluctance to come forward, limited supply chains of skilled workers needed for remediation and constrained …
Government response. The government committed to updating the Committee by July 2025 on its ongoing work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, including providing additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral strategic …
HM Treasury
10
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
Addressing some of these barriers will require legislative changes, for example, creating new obligations on landlords to remediate, and new enforcement powers for regulators to compel remediation or impose penalties. The Plan did not mention other barriers to pace highlighted by the NAO, such as the affordability of paying for …
Government response. The government agrees to provide an update to the Committee in Autumn 2025, alongside an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan (RAP) in Summer 2025, addressing policy and legislative changes required, including strengthening legislation for cladding remediation.
HM Treasury
11
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
MHCLG’s Plan acknowledged that uncertainty around how many 11–18 metre buildings needed to be remediated meant that many residents were unsure about the safety of their homes and the timeline for getting them fixed.15 When asked what it was doing to identify remaining unsafe buildings, MHCLG said Homes England was …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan in Autumn 2025. This update will include policy and legislative changes, progress on identifying dangerous cladding, and plans to strengthen legislation to mandate remediation for buildings over 11 metres.
HM Treasury
12
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) told us it was not confident that MHCLG’s Plan would deliver for residents. It explained that too many barriers and issues remained, that MHCLG’s 2029 target was still five long years away and that it would only mean remediation was complete for some buildings–high rise …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan in Autumn 2025. This update will include policy and legislative changes, progress in identifying dangerous cladding, and a commitment to removing remediation blockers and strengthening enforcement legislation for buildings …
HM Treasury
13
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In their written evidence to us, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) and The Property Institute also raised concerns about the exclusion of non– cladding defects from government funded programmes. The NFCC told us there was a “large proportion” of buildings needing temporary measures— such as waking watches—to ensure life …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan in Autumn 2025. This update will include commitments to removing blockers to accelerate remediation, address non-cladding defects, and strengthen legislation to enforce the fixing of internal and external fire …
HM Treasury
14
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We asked MHCLG about what it was doing to support residents with non– cladding defects. MHCLG told us that it was developing a new standard with the British Standards Institute to give the sector more certainty over what work needed to be done to address non–cladding issues. It told us …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish an updated Remediation Acceleration Plan in Autumn 2025. This update will include commitments to removing blockers to accelerate remediation, address non-cladding defects, and strengthen legislation to enforce the fixing of internal and external fire …
HM Treasury
15
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Rejected
Despite promises in 2022 of tough new measures to force industry to pay to remove cladding, MHCLG accepted that it has yet to find a way to secure a financial contribution from manufacturers. We observed that while developers were contributing to the costs of remediation, manufacturers of non–compliant products had …
Government response. The government disagrees with the recommendation, stating it is currently consulting on redress routes via the Construction Products Reform Green Paper and that leaseholders are already protected from cladding remediation costs.
HM Treasury
16
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In 2020, the previous Committee warned that shortages of specialist skills to support remediation would increase owing to an expected increase in the number of buildings included in the government’s remediation programmes. Following the creation of the Building Safety Fund in 2020, this rose from around 450 buildings with ACM …
Government response. The government committed to updating the Committee by July 2025 on its ongoing work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, including providing additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral strategic …
HM Treasury
17
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) told us that there remained a lack of skills within the industry, making it difficult to find qualified people to undertake remediation work. It explained that addressing this issue was challenging, but could, and was, being accelerated. We therefore asked MHCLG if it was confident …
Government response. The government agrees to update the Committee by July 2025 on its work to increase capacity and skills in the building sector to accelerate remediation. It cites additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator, bringing in experienced inspectors, and working …
HM Treasury
18
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) told us that the PAS 9980 standard for assessing the fire safety risk of external walls relied on specialist knowledge of building construction, fire engineering principles and material performance. The NFCC warned that there was limited availability of qualified professionals, and that its members …
Government response. The government committed to updating the Committee by July 2025 on its ongoing work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, including providing additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral strategic …
HM Treasury
19
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
The Home Builders Federation told us that it was concerned that a shortage of “Chartered Fire Engineers” was a barrier to speeding up developer self– remediation. MHCLG assured us that it did not currently see a shortfall of fire engineers, and that it had access to additional capacity that that …
Government response. The government agrees to provide an update by July 2025 on its work to increase capacity and skills in the building sector to accelerate remediation. It details ongoing efforts, including funding the Building Safety Regulator and bringing in more building …
HM Treasury
20
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We asked witnesses if the construction industry had the capacity to support the acceleration of remediation. The HBF told us acceleration was happening, but that it would be challenging. It outlined some of the challenges facing the sector, including an ageing construction workforce and Brexit, where stricter visa requirements have …
Government response. The government agrees with the observation and commits to updating the Committee by the end of July 2025 on its work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation. It details existing efforts including funding for …
HM Treasury
21
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
When buildings are stuck in the remediation process, regulators (local authorities, fire and rescue authorities, and the Building Safety Regulator– for higher-risk buildings33 ) take enforcement action to get the process moving. MHCLG’s Plan recognised that constraints around the capacity of regulators was a barrier to the pace of remediation. …
Government response. The government agrees to update the Committee by July 2025 on its work to increase capacity and skills in the building sector for accelerated remediation. It details additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator, improved infrastructure, and bringing in experienced …
HM Treasury
22
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We heard concerns about insufficient capacity and capability at the Building Safety Regulator (BSR), which oversees the safety and standards of buildings over 18 metres. The HBF told us that the BSR was continuing to hold up development, including self-remediation work, for buildings over 18 metres. In written evidence, the …
Government response. The government committed to updating the Committee by July 2025 on its ongoing work to increase capacity and skills across the building sector to accelerate remediation, including providing additional funding for the Building Safety Regulator and working with mayoral strategic …
HM Treasury
23
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Not Addressed
As many as 3 million people may have been affected by the cladding crisis. The NAO found that residents continue to suffer ongoing financial and emotional consequences. In its written evidence to us, End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) told us that the lives of thousands of ordinary people had been …
Government response. The government agrees with the observation but commits to providing annual written updates to the Committee on the overall progress of building remediation until Summer 2029. This response does not specifically address the severe financial and emotional impacts on residents …
HM Treasury
24
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Not Addressed
MHCLG’s Remediation Acceleration Plan (the Plan) commits to publishing guidance to help where disputes between parties are delaying remediation. However, in written evidence, the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF) noted that MHCLG made this commitment over 18 months ago and it was yet to be delivered.39 MHCLG described how it had …
Government response. The government agrees with the recommendation, but commits only to writing to the Committee annually from Summer 2025 until 2029 to report on overall remediation progress, without specifying action on publishing guidance for dispute resolution.
HM Treasury
25
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In 2020 the previous Committee noted that many residents were not being kept informed about the process of remediation and requested that MHCLG set out how it would improve transparency.42 We therefore asked whether government was now doing enough to help residents whose lives felt on hold while they waited …
Government response. The government committed to writing to the Committee annually from Summer 2025 until Summer 2029 to provide updates on remediation progress for 18m+ and 11m+ buildings.
HM Treasury
26
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Not Addressed
In 2023, MHCLG launched a Code of Practice to support improved communications during remediation. The HBF and the NHF told us that developers and social housing providers had agreed to follow the code. EOCS told us the code was “a long time coming” and had been heavily revised at the …
Government response. The government agrees with the observation but commits to providing annual written updates to the Committee on the overall progress of building remediation until Summer 2029. This response does not specifically address the concerns raised in the conclusion about the …
HM Treasury
27
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
MHCLG’s Plan commits to driving compliance with the Code of Practice to ensure residents are kept informed throughout the remediation process and disruption from works on site is minimised.46 Homes England told us that communication with residents was far more embedded in its Cladding Safety Scheme, which requires evidence of …
Government response. The government agrees and will write to the Committee annually from Summer 2025 until Summer 2029 to provide updates on remediation progress and targets for 18m+ and 11m+ buildings.
HM Treasury
28
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In 2020 the previous Committee concluded that MHCLG had not done enough to address spiralling insurance costs affecting leaseholders and ‘nil’ mortgage valuations. It found that private leaseholders in blocks with dangerous cladding had received ‘nil’ valuations for their properties, meaning they had found it impossible to sell or remortgage, …
Government response. The government agrees on the importance of building evidence on the cost of buildings insurance and commits to continuing to gather data with industry and stakeholders. This data will inform the consideration of government support to reduce fire-related liabilities, and …
HM Treasury
29
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Acknowledged
The Home Builders Federation (HBF) raised concerns that insurance companies were seeking to profit from the building safety crisis. The Shared Owners Network similarly wrote that many shared owners were struggling to pay housing-related costs such as insurance. End Our Cladding Scandal (EOCS) raised exorbitant insurance as one of the …
Government response. The government agrees on the importance of building evidence on insurance costs and will continue to gather data with industry to inform work on potentially supporting industry to reduce fire-related liabilities. An update will be provided by the end of …
HM Treasury
30
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
MHCLG told us that it was bringing forward statutory changes to ban insurance brokers from paying commissions to freeholders and managing agents, and capping what freeholders can charge leaseholders for arranging insurance.51 MHCLG told us that the risk–pooling arrangements it had brokered with the insurance industry to reduce rates had …
Government response. The government agrees on the importance of building evidence on the cost of buildings insurance and commits to continuing to gather data with industry and stakeholders. This data will inform the consideration of government support to reduce fire-related liabilities, and …
HM Treasury
31
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Acknowledged
MHCLG told us that, as well as options for intervening in the market to reduce premiums while buildings are awaiting remediation, it expected the insurance industry to hold to its word in reducing premiums as risk is reduced. It said it would monitor if premiums were falling as buildings remediated …
Government response. The government agrees on the importance of building evidence on insurance costs and will continue to gather data with industry to inform work on potentially supporting industry to reduce fire-related liabilities. An update will be provided by the end of …
HM Treasury
32
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In written evidence, the ABI called on government to adopt an approach that priorities property protection and building resilience alongside risk to life. It said that without a standard requiring the removal of combustible material in external walls (insulation and cladding), the risk of significant fire spread would remain after …
Government response. The government agrees on the importance of building evidence on the cost of buildings insurance and commits to continuing to gather data with industry and stakeholders. This data will inform the consideration of government support to reduce fire-related liabilities, and …
HM Treasury
33
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted in Part
Almost eight years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, MHCLG’s latest estimate, in February 2024, was that there were between 9,000 and 12,000 residential buildings in England taller than 11 metres that will need remediating. Based on this modelling, MHCLG estimated that it would cost the Government, developers and building …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish the latest building number estimates by Summer 2025. However, the exact timing for publishing cost estimates and works completion dates is dependent on the 2025 Spending Review.
HM Treasury
34
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Acknowledged
Under the PAS 9980 methodology, competent professionals conduct Fire Risk Appraisals of External Walls (FRAEWs) in which they make conclusions about the risk to life posed by a building’s cladding and make proposals about remedial measures to reduce the level of risk to ‘tolerable’,57 The National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) …
Government response. The government states that remediation reduces risk and that PAS 9980 was developed with expert advice and public consultation; MHCLG has asked the insurance industry to build evidence on claims performance of remediated buildings and share that with the government.
HM Treasury
35
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Deferred
In December 2024, MHCLG published remediation cost information per square metre for high–rise buildings over 18 metres in the Building Safety Fund with a view to helping building owners understand the expected 56 Qq 31, 93, 93, 118; CA&G’s Report paras 13, 3.1, Appendix One 57 Ministry of Housing, Communities …
Government response. The government agrees with the observation and commits to publishing the latest building number estimates by summer 2025. However, the exact timing for publishing estimates of costs and works completion dates is deferred, as it depends on the outcome of …
HM Treasury
36
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted in Part
In written evidence, the Home Builders’ Federation (HBF) was very sceptical about the basis of MHCLG’s estimates of building numbers and the lack of any updates. It told us that MHCLG’s estimate of the likely number of buildings in need of remediation was based on assumptions that were “long outdated …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish the latest building number estimates by summer, but the timing for publishing cost and works completion dates depends on the forthcoming Spending Review.
HM Treasury
37
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted in Part
Based on its central estimate of £16.6 billion for total remediation costs, MHCLG anticipated that around £7.5 billion would be paid for directly by private building owners, developers and social housing providers, and the remaining £9.1 billion would be funded through MHCLG’s grant programmes. MHCLG planned to cap the amount …
Government response. The government agrees and will publish the latest building number estimates by Summer 2025. However, the exact timing for publishing cost estimates and works completion dates is dependent on the 2025 Spending Review.
HM Treasury
38
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Deferred
HM Treasury has agreed to provide short–term funding that would allow remediation to progress in advance of the Levy recouping funds in later years. Based on MHCLG’s financial planning, the NAO highlighted that total taxpayer exposure could reach a maximum of £6.3 billion in 2030-31 before all Levy receipts are …
Government response. The government committed to publishing latest building number estimates by summer 2025, but the publication of estimates for costs and works completion dates is deferred until after the forthcoming Spending Review.
HM Treasury
39
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Deferred
The NAO report found that previous attempts by MHCLG to accelerate remediation resulted in it relaxing some of its safeguards and the taxpayer being exposed to an increased risk of fraud. This included moving from making payments in arrears to making up–front payments of between 30% and 80%.65 We asked …
Government response. The government agrees and will provide an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025. However, full outputs from the fraud loss measurement exercise, which has an 18-month standard, are not expected until Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
40
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Deferred
The NAO report also highlighted how MHCLG was late to produce a full fraud risk assessment on the Building Safety Fund, only completing one in
Government response. The government committed to providing an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025, but full outputs from the fraud loss measurement process will not be available until Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
41
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Deferred
MHCLG told us how the design of Homes England’s Cladding Safety Scheme would help reduce fraud in future. It explained that the new scheme captures information centrally, rather than relying on one team to pull together more disparate sources of intelligence. The Cladding Safety Scheme has also restored the practice …
Government response. The government agrees and will provide an update on the feasibility of fraud measurement by the end of 2025. Full outputs from the fraud loss measurement exercise are anticipated by Autumn 2026.
HM Treasury
42
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
The National Housing Federation (NHF) told us that the government’s approach to funding remediation for non–ACM cladding allocated public funding in a way that prioritised tenure over risk. It said that the arrangements meant that, in reality, 90% of public funding for remediating non–ACM type cladding had gone to private …
HM Treasury
43
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
The Government has pledged to build 1.5 million homes during this Parliament and expects social housing to be at the heart of the UKs’ housing supply. Against a backdrop of the construction sector reporting workforce shortages (paragraph 20), we asked the NHF how the government’s approach to remediation in the …
Government response. The government committed to publishing an impact assessment alongside draft levy regulations later this year and providing an update to the Committee before the end of 2025 on the interaction between remediation policies and housebuilding ambitions.
HM Treasury
44
Recommendation
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We asked MHCLG about its understanding of the impact that £3.8 billion of self–remediation costs might have on social sector housebuilding, and whether it had undertaken any assessment of how many houses would not be built because money was being spent on remediation. MHCLG told us that it was “certainly …
Government response. The government agrees to write to the Committee before the end of 2025, providing an update on the interaction between remediation policies and housebuilding ambitions. It will also publish an impact assessment alongside draft Building Safety Levy regulations later this …
HM Treasury
45
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
In its written evidence to us, the Home Builders Federation (HBF), which represents the home building industry, told us of its concerns about the possible impact of the Building Safety Levy on new housing delivery. MHCLG currently expects to raise £3.4 billion over 10 years from the new levy. The …
Government response. The government committed to publishing an impact assessment alongside draft levy regulations later this year and providing an update to the Committee before the end of 2025 on the interaction between remediation policies and housebuilding ambitions.
HM Treasury
46
Conclusion
17th Report - The Remediation of Danger…
Accepted
We asked MHCLG about the potential impacts of the Building Safety Levy on housing provision. MHCLG said it had not published any impact assessment or produced specific numbers, but believed the impact would be relatively small. It told us that it had deliberately designed the Levy to take into account …
Government response. The government committed to publishing an impact assessment alongside draft levy regulations later this year and providing an update to the Committee before the end of 2025 on the interaction between remediation policies and housebuilding ambitions.
HM Treasury