How will cladding costs be paid for?
Guidance on the government's plan for the removal of an unsafe cladding system on all buildings over 11 metres.
Applies to England
Summary:
1. Qualifying leaseholders in relevant buildings will be protected in law from the costs of cladding remediation.
2. This means that if you are a qualifying leaseholder, you will not have to pay for the removal of an unsafe cladding system and will no longer be the first port of call to fix historical building safety defects.
3. The leaseholder protections protect qualifying leaseholders, however work to fix defects funded though government funding, and funding secured through negotiations with industry cover all leaseholders in buildings over 11 metres.
How will cladding system costs be paid for?
4. The government has a comprehensive plan for the removal of an unsafe cladding system on all buildings above 11 metres.
5. Industry negotiations have delivered a wide-ranging industry agreement with 55 of the largest developers signing legally binding contracts committing to remediate life-critical fire safety defects in residential buildings they had a role in developing in England over the 30 years prior to 5 April 2022. This will cut out the need for legal action on a building-by-building basis.
6. Where the original developer or the building owner, or both, are not funding the works, the government has made £5.1 billion of public funding available to address life safety fire risks associated with cladding systems on high-rise (over 18 metres) residential buildings, including £4.5 billion through the Building Safety Fund. (The definition of ‘building owner’ can be found in What are my building owner’s legal obligations?). For high-rise residential buildings with unsafe cladding that missed the original registration deadline, government intends to reopen the Building Safety Fund and will focus on making sure the fund is risk driven.
7. Where the developer of a building above 11 metres cannot be identified or held responsible, funding will be made available through the Cladding Safety Scheme. The scheme is being delivered by Homes England and is open for applications for buildings between 11-18 metres in London and buildings over 11m in the rest of England, where a responsible developer cannot be identified, traced, or held responsible.
How does this affect you, the leaseholder?
8. If you are a qualifying leaseholder in a relevant building, then you will be protected from all costs associated with cladding remediation.
9. You will be required to provide a completed leaseholder deed of certificate to your building owner to prove you are a qualifying leaseholder and are therefore be protected from all cladding system remediation costs.
10. If you live in a building above 11 metres and you are classed as a non-qualifying leaseholder under the protections, then the government’s actions will still mean you are protected from cladding system costs.
11. If your building owner is - or is related to - the developer that installed the cladding system, that developer will be responsible for all remediation costs.
12. The government has also made funding available, through the Building Safety Fund, or the Cladding Safety Scheme to ensure the costs of remediating an unsafe cladding system no longer fall to leaseholders.