Guidance

Remediation Enforcement Support Fund: Application guidance

Published 2 December 2024

Applies to England

1. Background 

1. The government is working with our regulatory partners including local authorities (LAs) and fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) to ensure landlords comply with the law and remediate their defective buildings as fast as possible. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) welcomes the actions LAs and FRAs are already taking against landlords, but there are still many buildings which are not being remediated quickly enough.  

2. The government believes there is a gap in support for regulators who wish to use their legal powers to pursue landlords who are failing to remediate, and those who are responsible for funding that remediation.  

3. The Building Safety Act 2022 introduced new civil remedies – Remediation Orders (ROs) and Remediation Contribution Orders (RCOs) which can be used by regulators to ensure buildings are remediated and the costs of remediation are paid for, this is in addition to existing powers under the Housing Act 2004 and Fire Safety Act 2021.  

4. MHCLG are therefore offering this new fund to regulators who wish to use their legal powers to pursue those responsible for remediating buildings or paying for the costs of remediation (“the Fund”). 

5. This guidance is designed to help any regulator considering making an application to the Fund.  

6. Each building safety case will be different. Through the Fund, MHCLG will look to support cases which pursue responsible persons in a variety of scenarios. Our focus is on ensuring unsafe buildings are safely remediated as quickly as possible. MHCLG also want to support regulators who are pursuing more complex cases, for example, buildings with unclear management or ownership structures, or slow or unresponsive landlords. 

7. This funding is part of a wider package of support government is providing to LAs and FRAs for enforcement, which includes publication of guidance, partnership forums, the Joint Inspection Team and New Burdens funding for the LAs which have the highest number of unsafe buildings. 

8. MHCLG expects LAs which receive New Burdens funding to have already used some of the funding to begin the enforcement work before applying to the Fund.  

9. The Secretary of State reserves the right to update this guidance. 

10. If you have any questions about the Fund or the application process, please contact localregulatorengagement@communities.gov.uk to discuss further. 

2. Funding eligibility 

11. Funding is available for all local authorities and fire and rescue authorities in England (regulators).

12. Regulators can only apply for funding for a specific case, which must meet the gateway criteria set out below. 

13. The decision to apply for funding must be made independently by the regulator. The department cannot advise on whether a regulator should apply for this funding, only whether they are eligible.  

14. Funding is only available for new activity – not for legal advice received and paid for prior to applying to the Fund.

3. Funding details 

15. This funding is available as 2 options. The options are assessed and applied for separately. A regulator does not need to have used option 1 funding before applying for option 2. 

Option 1 is £5,000 to procure independent advice from third party professionals to assess whether a legal case can be brought. Use this application form for option 1.

Option 2 is up to £100,000 to procure the necessary third-party expert services required to pursue the legal case. Use this application form for option 2.

The funding will cover irrecoverable VAT, but not recoverable VAT. 

16. If the costs for third party expert support exceed £5,000 for option 1 or £100,000 for option 2, the regulator is responsible for covering all additional costs.  

17. The regulator will need to source and procure their own third-party expert support and pay them directly for their services.  

For option 1, payment will be made in a lump sum. MHCLG will aim to pay within 35 days of approving applications for option 1.

18. For option 2, payments will be made quarterly in arrears. The regulator will share details of payments with MHCLG at the end of each quarter and then MHCLG will pay back the costs. 

The funding is not ring-fenced but will be accompanied by a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) agreed by both the regulator and MHCLG setting out expectations regarding how the funding will be used. 

19. For option 1, MHCLG recommends that the legal advice should: 

• be produced within 4 weeks of receiving the funding 

• be produced by a solicitor or barrister that is regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority or the Bar Council – MHCLG suggests they have a minimum of 4 years legal experience

MHCLG suggests that the advice could include: 

• whether there is a claim which could be brought 

• whether there is a solvent respondent 

• details of evidence that would be needed to progress the claim 

• whether there are any pre-action steps the applicant may wish to take 

• an estimate of the cost of taking the case through to the final hearing  

• advice on the merits of this claim 

4. How to apply 

20. Both options will open on 02 December 2024 and close at 11:59pm on 28 February 2026.  

21. Applications can be made by completing an application form.

22. The department aims to decide whether to approve the application with 14 working days. If the decision is not to fund, feedback will be provided.  

5. Appeals 

23. If the application is not successful and the regulator believes their case meets all the gateway criteria, they should contact localregulatorengagement@communities.gov.uk. They should do this within 14 days of receiving the application outcome, setting out why they think their application should be reviewed. 

24. The department will respond to the appeal within 14 days. 

6. Minimum criteria 

25. MHCLG has set minimum criteria which must be met for an application to be eligible for funding. MHCLG will fund applications subject to the availability of funding. If you are applying for option 2 and your case may go beyond the end of March 2026, please contact us to confirm funding availability. 

26.  For option 1, the following criteria, which must all be met, are:  

• that the applicant is the LA or FRA in which the building is situated 

• that the funding is for third party expert advice on pursuing a legal claim 

• that the LA or FRA have independently chosen to pursue this case based on previous assessment or enforcement work 

• that the building has at least one defect which puts people’s safety at risk from the spread of fire – a single case may involve more than one building (for example, multiple buildings in the same estate built by the same developer) but at least one must meet the criteria above

• that the building is in England 

• that the building is a self-contained building or a self-contained part of a building with at least 2 dwellings  

• that the building is at least 11 metres or 5 storeys high 

If the applicant is an LA that already receives New Burdens funding from MHCLG: 

• initial enforcement action (such as serving an Improvement Notice) must have already been taken in relation to building safety defects and have not been complied with 

27. For option 2, the following criteria, which must all be met, are:    

• that the applicant is the local authority (LA) or the fire and rescue authority (FRA) in which the building is situated 

• that the funding is for third party expert support to pursue a legal claim 

• that the LA or FRA have independently chosen to pursue this case based on previous assessment/enforcement work 

• that the building has at least one defect which puts people’s safety at risk from the spread of fire – a single case may involve more than 1 building, for example, multiple buildings in the same estate built by the same developer, but at least one must meet the criteria

• that the building is in England  

• that the building is a self-contained building or a self-contained part of a building with at least 2 dwellings  

• that the building is at least 11 metres or 5 storeys high 

If the applicant is an LA who already receives New Burdens funding from MHCLG: 

• initial enforcement action (such as serving an Improvement Notice) has already been taken in relation to building safety defects and has not been complied with. 

• the case is complex or requires specialist legal advice, for example, if the building is managed by a Right to Manage or Resident Managed Company or you seek to apply for an RO or RCO instead of using Housing Act powers. 

If the application is for an RO or RCO case: 

• the building must contain at least one relevant defect, as defined in section 120 of the Building Safety Act 2022 and explained in the remediation order guidance

• the respondent to the claim must be a “relevant landlord” under the Building Safety Act, (Section 123(3)) in respect of relevant building (Section 117)) that contains at least one relevant defect (Section 120(2)) or, for an RCO a “specified body corporate” under the Building Safety Act (section 124(3)) 

7. Application questions  

28. For both options, you will need to complete the following questions as part of the application process. The decision to fund will be based on meeting the minimum criteria. 

You need to provide:

• confirmation that the gateway criteria have been met  

• contact name and email address 

• name of local authority or fire and rescue authority 

• full address of the buildings of concern including postcode 

• how tall the building is – approximate if unknown 

• how many dwellings the building has – approximate if unknown

• any building safety concerns related to this building, including details of the relevant defects, any known building inspections or assessment and their outcomes 

• if any measures have already been taken to mitigate a building safety risk in this building, for example, provision of a waking watch, and, if yes, provide brief details  

• confirm what, if any, contact the LA or FRA has had with the department regarding this building, including brief details of contacts and discussions

• briefly describe what you are seeking legal advice to achieve, for example which legislation are you planning to use and how will this funding help you progress this case?

• details of measures already taken to drive remediation of this building  

• any other options have you considered for funding this legal support  

For an option 2 funding application, you will also need to explain: 

• which legislation you are planning to use and who you are planning to pursue  

• how likely you estimate the chance of the case being successful, including how you have assessed this  

8. Examples of cases which the Fund could support  

Here are some examples of cases MHCLG would consider for funding. This list is not exhaustive. 

Scenario 1 

A building has been inspected under the Housing Act 2004 and a Category 1 or Category 2 hazard has been identified. 

A Statutory Notice has been served on the landlord, but they have failed to respond or comply by the set date to the notice, or are being very slow or evasive of their duties. 

Scenario 2

A landlord has declared insolvency and at least one of their buildings has safety defects. 

Or a building owner who is obliged to provide funding to a right-to-manage company or resident management company for remediation work has not done so. 

Scenario 3  

A building is in interim measures, and there is a waking watch or an alarm in place, but the landlord is not acting to progress remediation.  

Scenario 4  

A landlord has stopped or threatened to stop paying waking watch costs.  

As a result, the building has been decanted or is at risk of being decanted. 

The regulator would like advice on options to prevent the building being decanted or options to ensure the building is made safe for reoccupation as quickly as possible.