A new coalition in the capital aims to accelerate the removal of unsafe cladding on residential buildings over 11 metres.

The Joint Remediation Partnership Board is made up of officials from City Hall, government, local councils, the London Fire Brigade and regulatory bodies, and covers buildings that fall under government, private developer and social housing remediation programmes.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan explains that London has four times the national average of high-rise homes, with 1,513 buildings in government remediation programmes that have not yet started on site, and that progress to remove dangerous cladding from residential buildings has been far too slow. There are also a range of national and local organisations with differing roles to deliver remediation and take enforcement action against those responsible for fixing unsafe cladding.

Partnership

This new, formal partnership aims to deliver change by coordinating and prioritising the use of powers and resources in London to achieve the government's targets for removing dangerous cladding. It supports the government’s ambition to ensure that by the end of 2029, all residential buildings over 11m with unsafe cladding nationwide will either have been remediated, have a date for completion, or landlords will be liable for severe penalties for failing to make their buildings safe.

Resources

Councillor Grace Williams, London Councils’ executive member for housing and regeneration (right), says: “It is also pivotal that boroughs and our partners have sufficient resources to enforce standards. There is currently a massive squeeze on London’s housing budgets, which makes it harder to modernise buildings and address safety concerns, as well as holding us back from building the new housing we desperately need.”

Estate agents have warned that many flat sales are stalling due to a lack of meaningful progress on unsafe cladding repairs. The Public Accounts Committee says as many as 7,000 buildings still haven’t been identified, and work has yet to start on half of the 5,000 buildings already within the government’s portfolio.

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