27 May 2020
£1bn Building Safety Fund to remove dangerous cladding following Grenfell tragedy
Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has recently launched a £1bn Building Safety Fund to remove dangerous cladding. The new fund is primarily targeted at supporting those facing significant remediation costs of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems on residential buildings that are 18 meters or over and which do not comply with building regulations.
According to an article by Infrastructure Intelligence here Robert Jenrick said “I will not accept any excuses from building owners who have yet to take action and those responsible should register for the fund so that they can start the remediation process immediately. I have also reached an agreement with local leaders so that this important work can continue safely during the pandemic.”
“New statutory guidance published today also means that all new residential buildings over 11 meters tall will be fitted with sprinkler systems. This is another critical part of our commitment to delivering the biggest changes to building safety for a generation.”
The registration process will open on 1 June 2020 and close on 31 July 2020 with full application guidance issued after the registration phase is complete.
Whilst Infrastructure Intelligence report that Labour’s shadow minister for housing and planning has claimed that the fund would still not be enough to make high-rise buildings safe, and calls for clarity over critical problems which will remain unresolved, the fund will go some way to protecting against another tragedy similar to Grenfell.
