Further to my blog in December 2024 on the Government’s plans to speed up the remediation of high-rise buildings in England, the Government announced on 17 July 2025 a series of interconnected policies and intentions to achieve that aim in its Remediation Acceleration Plan update.

The most significant for social landlords is the joint plan. Under the joint plan, government and social landlords are committing to the target dates for remediation set out in the wider Remediation Acceleration Plan update. That is that by the end of 2029:

• every 18m+ residential building in a government-funded scheme will be remediated; and
• every 11m+ building with unsafe cladding will either have been remediated or have a date for completion.

Otherwise, landlords will be liable for penalties as follows (this applies to all landlords, not just social landlords): 

• by the end of 2029, any landlord who has failed to remediate a building over 18 metres, without reasonable excuse, will face criminal prosecution, with unlimited fines and/or imprisonment; and
• for buildings between 11 and 18 metres, those that have not been remediated or scheduled for completion by the end of 2029 will be escalated to regulators for investigation and enforcement. Non-compliance will attract stringent penalties. 2031 will mark the natural end date for completion of works on these buildings. Failure to meet this deadline without a reasonable excuse will constitute a criminal offence, punishable by unlimited fines and/or imprisonment.

Significantly, to assist social landlords in achieving these requirements, the rules of the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) have been amended as of 17 July 2025, providing increased access to these funds for social landlords and, hence, parity with private landlords going forward.

MHCLG states that it will offer comprehensive, wraparound support to every social landlord that applies to a government remediation scheme, including expert pre-tender guidance and technical assistance. This aims to support social landlords to carry out remedial works quickly and cost-effectively.

This news coincides with the signing of a new Memorandum of Understanding between the Building Safety Regulator and the Regulator of Social Housing. See my colleagues’ blog for an analysis of the implications of this collaboration here.

Many of the changes in the policy paper will require legislation to be put into effect. The Government has stated that it intends to bring forward a Remediation Bill when parliamentary time allows.

Next steps

For support with issues around any high-rise buildings requiring remediation, please contact us.