Guidance

Building Safety Fund guidance for applications made in 2020

Information on the Building Safety Fund (BSF).

From:
Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
Published
11 March 2020
Last updated
13 March 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

Introduction

The government announced the Building Safety Fund (BSF) in March 2020 to fund the remediation of cladding on high-rise residential buildings (buildings over 18 metres).

This page is only for responsible entities – the individual/ organisation responsible for the safety of a building – who applied to the BSF in 2020. If you are making a new application, refer to the guidance for making new applications from July 2022.

The BSF is part of the government’s wider building safety programme which aims to ensure that residents living in medium- and high-rise buildings are (and feel) safe in their homes, now and in the future. The BSF meets the cost of addressing life-safety fire risks associated with cladding in high-rise residential buildings where the building owner or developer can’t afford do so.

If you are a leaseholder or resident of a building in the BSF, read our page containing Leaseholder and resident information on the Building Safety Fund. We have also published information on leaseholder protections more generally.

From March 2024, some groups of buildings have been transferred from the Building Safety Fund (BSF) to the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) to progress through all the stages of funding. Applicants have been notified where this transfer impacts their buildings.

Fund application guidance for private sector housing applicants

The below guidance is for responsible entities of private sector residential buildings who applied to the Building Safety Fund (BSF) in 2020. It provides information about the BSF, including how it works and what you can expect during the application process.

Building Safety Fund guidance for existing applications registered 2020 (PDF, 678 KB, 41 pages)

Guidance is subject to amendments.  Responsible entities should follow the BSF guidance that was in effect at the time they signed their grant funding agreement.

Responsible entities can appeal against the BSF’s eligibility decision for their building. MHCLG can only accept appeals from the person(s) who received the decision notification. They need to complete the below form.

Building Safety Fund: appeals form (ODT, 57.7 KB)

Fund application guidance and forms for social sector housing applicants

The below Building Safety Fund (BSF) guidance provides information about the application process for registered providers of social housing. It allows them to claim funding, equivalent to the value of work which would otherwise be charged to leaseholders.

Building Safety Fund guidance for social sector buildings registered from 2020 (PDF, 355 KB, 25 pages)

Guidance is subject to amendments. Registered providers of social housing should follow the BSF guidance that was in effect at the point when MHCLG granted funding approval.  Please see the original guidance (PDF, 831 KB)

They should also make a claim for each building, not bulk submissions per local authority or registered provider.

Registered Providers of social housing grant claim form (ODT, 28.9 KB)

All registered providers of social housing who apply to the BSF need to complete the SAP7B vendor form. This allows us to record them as a vendor on our systems and make payments. The vendor form can be sent to MHCLG at any time, however, it may take up to six weeks to verify bank details and enable payments.

Vendor Form SAP7B (ODT, 53.7 KB)

How we use the information applicants provide

The information applicants provide, excluding personal data, may be shared. However, information that is protected by legislation or is confidential will not be shared.

MHCLG shares information with leaseholders and residents about who to contact to obtain information on BSF-funded remediation of their building. This helps ensure that those responsible for fixing buildings communicate regularly with all residents on the progress of their BSF application and works. This communications requirement is set out in BSF guidance for applicants and in the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Residential Buildings.  

In 2023, we published the company names of responsible entities, managing agents and developers (where they are taking responsibility for the remediation of buildings) for each building on the Leaseholder and Resident Service.  

To facilitate mortgage lending, MHCLG shares basic address information (no personal data) about the following buildings with specific mortgage lenders:

  • buildings where BSF funding has been approved: high-rise buildings with non-Aluminium Composite Material (non-ACM) cladding systems.
  • buildings with other government funding in place to remove unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems.

These mortgage lenders must commit to using this information in a controlled way and for the specific purpose of informing lending decisions on flats in buildings impacted by external wall system defects. This will help prospective buyers to access mortgage finance and leaseholders to sell and re-mortgage.

Information on how many private and social sector buildings have applied to the Building Safety Fund and the use of enforcement powers against buildings with unsafe cladding systems can now be found on Building Safety Remediation.

Updates to this page

Published 11 March 2020
Last updated 13 March 2024 show all updates

  1. The ‘What we will fund’ section has been updated with information on a funding cap of £45,000, excluding VAT, for legal fees relating to activities undertaken to submit an application.

  2. Substantial update to the guidance for all Building Safety Fund applicants, reflecting recent changes to policy and the launch of the Cladding Safety Scheme. The update also provides further clarity on eligibility and evidence processes, as well as expectations for engaging with leaseholders and residents.

  3. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  4. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  5. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  6. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  7. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  8. Updated the section on use of information provided in relation to the Fund.

  9. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  10. Update to section: Use of information provided in relation to applications to the Fund.

  11. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  12. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  13. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  14. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  15. New section in main guidance to reflect changes to BSF requirements in order to increase Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) cover. Other minor clarifications.

  16. Added a section on use of information provided in relation to applications to the Fund. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  17. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  18. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  19. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  20. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  21. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  22. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  23. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations. Updated private sector registration by local authority.

  24. Updated fund application and social sector grants guidance, prospectus and technical information.

  25. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  26. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  27. Added details of the Building Safety Fund (BSF) Leaseholder and Resident Service

  28. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  29. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  30. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  31. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  32. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  33. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  34. Updated the statistics for Building Safety Fund registrations.

  35. Updated Building Safety Fund registration statistics.

  36. Updated Building Safety Fund application guidance, fund application process, and subsidy control guidance (leaseholders & applicants).

  37. Updated Building Safety Fund registration statistics. Replaced link to the leaseholder feedback form.

  38. Updated Building Safety Fund registration statistics.

  39. Updated Building Safety Fund: registration statistics.

  40. Updated Building Safety Fund: registration statistics.

  41. Updated Building Safety Fund: registration statistics.

  42. Grant Claim Form for Registered Providers of Social Housing updated to include some additional details on supporting documentation requirements.

  43. Social sector guidance amended.

  44. Added step by step Building Safety Fund applications guidance. Added appeals form for registrants to the Building Safety Fund who wish to lodge an appeal following notification of the decision on their Building Safety Fund registration. Updated registration statistics.

  45. Correction made in the Building Safety Fund registration statistics.

  46. Added Building Safety Fund: registration statistics

  47. Grant Claim for Registered Providers of Social Housing form updated to include some further questions on the External Wall System components being remediated and an amended question on cost recovery.

  48. Grant Claim for Registered Providers of Social Housing form updated to include some further questions on the External Wall System components being remediated.

  49. Added Fund application guidance, and supporting documents including Social sector grants (leaseholder costs) guidance, State Aid Guidance and Declaration, Grant Claim Form for Registered Providers of Social Housing, and Vendor form SAP7B.

  50. Added link for registering interest in the fund. Added link for the leaseholder feedback form.

  51. Added information on registering for the Building Safety Fund for remediation of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems, in advance of the full application process opening by the end of July 2020.

  52. Added link to stakeholder update on Non-ACM remediation and the Building Safety Fund.

  53. First published.

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