Building Safety Fund: Information for leaseholders and residents
Information to support leaseholders and residents living in buildings in the Building Safety Fund (BSF).
Applies to England
What is the Building Safety Fund (BSF)?
The Building Safety Fund (BSF) opened in June 2020 for buildings over 18 metres. Its aim is to provide funding to fix fire safety problems with external cladding.
What is the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS)?
In July 2023 the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) opened. The CSS expands funding to include buildings between 11 and 18 metres (medium-rise buildings).
The CSS also covers ‘new’ applications for buildings outside London over 18 metres (high-rise buildings). In August 2025 the CSS will become the single scheme for remediating all 11m+ buildings in England (including those in London). The scheme has the same aims as the BSF.
Finding the right scheme for your building
The scheme which applies to your building will depend upon:
- where in the country your building is located
- how high your building is
- when the application was made
The two tables below will help you to find out which scheme applies to you. You will need to know when the application was made and how high your building is.
Buildings inside London
| Funding application made before July 2023 | Funding application made after July 2023 | Funding application made after July 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11-18 meters | - | Cladding Safety Scheme | Cladding Safety Scheme |
| Over 18 meters | Building Safety Fund | Building Safety Fund | Cladding Safety Scheme |
Buildings outside London
| Funding application made before July 2023 | Funding application made after July 2023 | Funding application made after July 2025 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11-18 meters | - | Cladding Safety Scheme | Cladding Safety Scheme |
| Over 18 meters | Building Safety Fund | Cladding Safety Scheme | Cladding Safety Scheme |
The rest of this page provides further details about the Building Safety Fund (BSF).
There is separate information available for the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS).
Who can apply to the BSF
Only those with a legal responsibility for the safety of a building can apply to the BSF. They include:
- building freeholders
- head leaseholders
- resident management companies
- right to manage companies
- registered providers of social housing, notably housing associations and local authorities
These individuals or organisations are sometimes referred to as ‘responsible entities’ or applicants.
A responsible entity may choose to appoint a managing agent to make or lead the BSF application. The agent can act legally on their behalf and manage the application until work is complete.
For buildings in the social sector, there is no requirement to have a lease, but there must be at least one unit owned by a provider registered with the Regulator of Social Housing with 1) a rent that is no more than 80% of the local market rent, inclusive of service charge 2) under a social rent or 3) as a shared-ownership unit.
There can be complex circumstances and structure that the policy cannot consider at a broad level. If there are cases that potentially require an exception to the standard approach set out, we encourage you to contact the CSS team directly and discuss this in more detail. The CSS team have experience in dealing with a variety of different policy exceptions and will work through the potential questions to reach an outcome.
Why the BSF changed in 2022
The BSF was first opened in 2020. The process was adapted, when it was reopened in 2022, to ensure that the level of building work matches the risk. Therefore, in some cases, cladding won’t necessarily need to be removed and replaced. Where this is the case, there is less disruption for residents. The safety of residents remains the highest priority.
Social sector applicants
On 11 June 2025, government announced over £1 billion of new investment to accelerate the remediation of social housing, by giving social housing providers equal access to government funding as that afforded to private building owners. On 17 July 2025 the CSS guidelines were updated to reflect this equal access policy.
Those guidelines state that no retrospective funding is available for buildings that had a cladding remediation works contract signed on or before 10 June 2025, the funding position is unchanged for these buildings. For BSF buildings with a works contract signed, but where cladding remediation works have not started and are not forecast to start imminently, MHCLG / Homes England will make funding decisions on a case by case basis.
If you are unsure about the circumstances of a particular building, please seek advice from Homes England’s Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) team.
2022 BSF applications
All new applications need to include a specialist report. We call this a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW) assessment. The report:
- describes the fire risks associated with any external cladding
- provides details of any recommended work to make the building safe
The BSF uses the information in the FRAEW to decide if an application is eligible and what work they will fund. Depending upon the fire risk, this could range from installing a sprinkler system to replacing all cladding.
The BSF will fund all work recommended by the FRAEW to reduce fire safety risks related to external cladding.
2020 BSF applications
Previous applicants who didn’t have full funding approved, or those where work hadn’t started had a choice when the 2022 BSF was reopened. They could either:
- continue with the 2020 BSF process following the Consolidated Advice Note (CAN) route, or
- switch to the 2022 BSF process
Where applicants chose to switch to the 2022 process, they needed to commission a FRAEW. The benefit of the FRAEW is that it also covers issues relating to external walls. This could potentially include items which were previously ineligible, such as balconies.
Social sector applicants
On 11 June 2025, government announced over £1 billion of new investment to accelerate the remediation of social housing, by giving social housing providers equal access to government funding as that afforded to private building owners. This means the BSF will now fund the remediation of social rented homes, affordable rented homes and shared ownership units on the same basis as leasehold units.
For buildings that did not have a cladding remediation works contractfootnote 1 signed before 11 June 2025:
- Buildings already in the BSF will be eligible for a funding uplift to reflect the new guidelines.
- Buildings not already in the BSF will be eligible for funding under the new guidelines and should make an application as soon as possible.
No retrospective funding is available for buildings that had a cladding remediation works contract signed on or before 10 June 2025 unless in circumstances where a works contract has been signed but works are not forecasted to start for some time. In these circumstances MHCLG/BSF will look on a case by case basis and consider funding decisions:
- Buildings already in the BSF will not be eligible for a funding uplift. They will receive funding as previously agreed in line with the old CSS guidelines.
- Buildings remediated outside BSF will not be eligible for new funding.
Pre-tender support is available (and may be mandatory) for eligible social sector applicants and can be used:
- for pre-tender activities such as design works
- to help with costs of Fire Risk Appraisal of Exterior Walls (FRAEW)
Pre-tender support funding cannot be used for capital works.
Proving you are a qualifying leaseholder
You can show you are a qualifying leaseholder by completing a Deed of Certificate. You will need to give this to your building owner so that they can calculate any contribution you need to make, if any.
Developer Remediation Contract
In January 2023, major developers were invited to sign the developer remediation contract with government, committing developers to fix life-critical fire-safety defects in residential buildings that they developed or refurbished in England. As of 30 June 2025, 54 developers had signed the contract.
By signing this contract, developers are required to take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical fire safety defects arising from design and construction of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed or refurbished in England in the 30 years ending on 4 April 2022. Any developer that fails to comply with their obligations under the developer remediation contract faces significant commercial consequences.
The list of developers that have signed the Contract can be found here. Since developers have made contractual commitments to remediate or pay to remediate buildings which are covered by the Contract, Homes England will not award funding to applications for buildings that a developer has agreed to remediate under the Contract. Those buildings should not apply to the fund, and the Responsible Entities for those buildings should instead work with the developer who has made a commitment under the Contract to arrange for the developer to remediate the building. Find more information on what to do if you are the Responsible Entity of a building covered by the Developer Remediation Contract.
We will expect you to check who originally developed the building. If they have already signed the Developer Remediation Contract and the developer developed or refurbished the building in the 30 years ending on 4 April 2022, that developer will be expected to fix the cladding and the building will not be eligible for the fund.
If the developer has not signed the contract but is still trading, we expect you to take reasonable steps to get the developer to fix the cladding. This would equally apply to other parties such as insurers, warranty providers, contractors and other professionals involved in the original construction. As of July 2025, social landlords can apply for funding while pursuing cost-recovery from those organisations responsible for the defects.
Getting further information about your building
The Building Safety Fund Leaseholder and Resident Service provides regular updates on applications. The service is for any leaseholder or resident in a building with a BSF application.
Building owners should also keep you informed. As part of the BSF application process they have a duty to provide you with regular updates. They should either do this themselves or through their managing agent.
Dealing with those who fail to progress applications
The person or organisation responsible for your building has a legal duty to keep your building safe. This includes ensuring there are plans in place to fix fire safety issues in the building. If a plan is not already in place, they must complete a FRAEW and submit this with their application to the Building Safety Fund (BSF).
If the person or organisation responsible for your building does not act, they can be forced to. The Building Safety Act 2022 includes legal powers to make building owners take action.
Remediation orders and remediation contribution orders are available for:
- local authorities
- fire and rescue authorities
- the Building Safety Regulator
- the Secretary of State
- any person with a legal or fair interest in the building, including leaseholders
See also: making sure remediation work is done.
Getting a mortgage or selling your home if it has a fire safety problem
Some banks and building societies (mortgage lenders) have agreed as part of an industry statement to lend on mid and high-rise buildings with fire safety problems as long as either:
- safety issues are being fixed by the developer or through a government-funded scheme, such as the Building Safety Fund
- or the leaseholder has filled in a deed of certificate which should be sent to the building owner
Mortgage lenders who have agreed to lend include:
- Barclays
- Hodge Bank
- HSBC
- Lloyds Banking Group
- Nationwide
- NatWest
- Santander
- Skipton Building Society
- TSB
- Virgin Money
If you need proof that safety issues are being fixed you should speak to the person or organisation responsible for your building. Some lenders may choose to ask for an EWS1 form, although these are not legally required when selling a property. Read more about EWS1 forms on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) website.
Independent support and advice
The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) provide independent specialist advice on leaseholder rights. They can support you if you have any concerns about unsafe cladding.
Leasehold Advisory Service (lease-advice.org)
Building Safety Fund: Glossary of terms
(1): By works contract MHCLG mean the main contract for the actual fire safety remedial construction work, outlining the scope, price, and schedule for building the project, NOT a Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA).
Updates to this page
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Updated Building Safety Fund: Information for leaseholders and residents.
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Hodge Bank has been added to the list of mortgage lenders.
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Skipton Building Society, TSB and Virgin Money join lenders' statement.
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How to obtain proof that safety issues are being fixed has been added. How to request a new EWS1 has been added.
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Added section on the Cladding Safety Scheme for buildings between 11-18 metres in England and new funding applications for buildings over 18 metres outside of London.
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Added information about the developer remediation contract.
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Update to section: How is government helping leaseholders and residents with issues with getting mortgages?
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Added information about the pilot launch of the Medium-Rise Scheme.
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Updated to reflect the reopening of the Building Safety Fund on 28 July 2022.
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Guidance updated to reflect new leaseholder protections coming into force.
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First published.