Government threatens legal action over unsafe cladding

Work should start on buildings with ACM cladding by 31 March

Owners and landlords of the most unsafe high-rise blocks face possible legal action if they do not start remediation work on their properties in 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has written to those responsible for buildings more than 11m tall with unsafe cladding not yet removed, to say she expects them to begin rectifying the problem ‘as soon as possible’.

She has also told those responsible for buildings with ACM cladding, used on Grenfell Tower, that work should start by 31 March.

Rayner says landlords and owners will be held to account if they do not take ‘all necessary action’ to remediate buildings ‘at pace’. This could include ‘legal action’ to recover the cost of such works.

The government has also published its Remediation Acceleration Plan, which sets a target for all 18m-plus buildings with unsafe cladding to have been fixed by the end of 2029.

By the same date, landlords of 11m-plus buildings with unsafe cladding will be liable for severe penalties unless their blocks have been remediated or have a date for completion.

Councils, fire and rescue authorities, and the Building Safety Regulator could also get ‘robust’ powers to enforce remediation.