HANSARDCommons09 Jul 20262 contributions

Housing, Communities and Local Government

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Building Safety and Remediation

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)
LabourChester North and Neston
This Government are committed to ensuring there is an effective building safety regime in place, so that people can be confident their homes are safe. It is hugely important to correct the mistakes of the past so that residents can move on with their lives. Furthermore, I am of the view that good regulation supports growth as well as safety. Today, I am announcing the next stage in development for the wider building safety system.
In line with calls from industry, residents and campaigners, we are enabling new applications to the cladding safety scheme to be prioritised according to risk to life, rather than solely by building height. This will ensure buildings assessed as presenting the highest risk to life are prioritised for remediation.
As part of this risk-based approach, we are also taking targeted action to address fire safety risks in buildings below 11 metres, where serious, life-critical cladding defects fall outside the scope of statutory protections, leaving leaseholders often facing significant cladding remediation costs.
We have investigated all under 11 metres buildings brought to our attention since 2022. The vast majority have not required cladding remediation, with fire risks often addressed through proportionate, lower-cost mitigation measures. Only a limited number of buildings have been found to require cladding remediation.
We acknowledge that leaseholders in buildings under 11 metres have faced prolonged uncertainty. I am pleased to confirm today that we are launching new, targeted funding to support the remediation of unsafe cladding on a small number of multi-occupancy residential buildings under 11 metres in England. This will be delivered through an extension of the cladding safety scheme and administered by Homes England. This delivers on the commitment set out in the remediation acceleration plan update in July last year.
Funding will prioritise high-risk buildings with the most serious cladding fire safety defects. Following support for these cases, any remaining funding may be directed to other buildings where intervention would deliver the greatest benefit in reducing risk and supporting residents. Applications for funding are expected to open in August.
From autumn 2026, the national remediation database, delivered by Homes England, will provide a single view of remediation activity across relevant buildings, improving information sharing and supporting oversight across partner organisations.
Responsible persons such as building owners remain responsible for ensuring a building is safe and life-critical defects are addressed.
In addition, today we are publishing the findings of the remediation programme insurance survey, which indicates that some leaseholders continue to face particularly high insurance costs despite progress in remediating building safety defects. The Financial Conduct Authority will work with MHCLG and HMT to undertake a short, focused review of the multi-occupancy buildings insurance market. The review will explore how insurers’ pricing approaches for multiple occupancy buildings have changed since 2023, how firms are considering leaseholders’ interests when assessing whether their products deliver fair value, and how fire safety remediation work and other related factors are being taken into account in insurers’ risk assessments. It will also work with Association of British Insurers and MHCLG to assess the effectiveness of the fire safety reinsurance facility in increasing market capacity and reducing premiums.

Building Safety and Remediation

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government (Samantha Dixon)

This Government are committed to ensuring there is an effective building safety regime in place, so that people can be confident their homes are safe. It is hugely important to correct the mistakes of the past so that residents can move on with their lives. Furthermore, I am of the view that good regulation supports growth as well as safety. Today, I am announcing the next stage in development for the wider building safety system.

In line with calls from industry, residents and campaigners, we are enabling new applications to the cladding safety scheme to be prioritised according to risk to life, rather than solely by building height. This will ensure buildings assessed as presenting the highest risk to life are prioritised for remediation.

As part of this risk-based approach, we are also taking targeted action to address fire safety risks in buildings below 11 metres, where serious, life-critical cladding defects fall outside the scope of statutory protections, leaving leaseholders often facing significant cladding remediation costs.

We have investigated all under 11 metres buildings brought to our attention since 2022. The vast majority have not required cladding remediation, with fire risks often addressed through proportionate, lower-cost mitigation measures. Only a limited number of buildings have been found to require cladding remediation.

We acknowledge that leaseholders in buildings under 11 metres have faced prolonged uncertainty. I am pleased to confirm today that we are launching new, targeted funding to support the remediation of unsafe cladding on a small number of multi-occupancy residential buildings under 11 metres in England. This will be delivered through an extension of the cladding safety scheme and administered by Homes England. This delivers on the commitment set out in the remediation acceleration plan update in July last year.

Funding will prioritise high-risk buildings with the most serious cladding fire safety defects. Following support for these cases, any remaining funding may be directed to other buildings where intervention would deliver the greatest benefit in reducing risk and supporting residents. Applications for funding are expected to open in August.

From autumn 2026, the national remediation database, delivered by Homes England, will provide a single view of remediation activity across relevant buildings, improving information sharing and supporting oversight across partner organisations.

Responsible persons such as building owners remain responsible for ensuring a building is safe and life-critical defects are addressed.

In addition, today we are publishing the findings of the remediation programme insurance survey, which indicates that some leaseholders continue to face particularly high insurance costs despite progress in remediating building safety defects. The Financial Conduct Authority will work with MHCLG and HMT to undertake a short, focused review of the multi-occupancy buildings insurance market. The review will explore how insurers’ pricing approaches for multiple occupancy buildings have changed since 2023, how firms are considering leaseholders’ interests when assessing whether their products deliver fair value, and how fire safety remediation work and other related factors are being taken into account in insurers’ risk assessments. It will also work with Association of British Insurers and MHCLG to assess the effectiveness of the fire safety reinsurance facility in increasing market capacity and reducing premiums.