Eight years on from the Grenfell Tower tragedy, the UK’s cladding remediation programme continues to falter. Despite increased scrutiny and substantial public funding, progress remains unacceptably slow and is a national crisis that is deepening, writes Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Property Inspect
As of January 2025, government data confirms a number of startling statistics. To start with, the nation has 5,025 residential buildings over 11m that have been identified as having unsafe cladding, while only 1,482 buildings have completed the remediation process.
And as if the existing tally of remediation requirements isn’t enough, the total just keeps on growing with an average of 62 buildings a month being added to the remediation monitoring list. Meanwhile, we’ve seen remediation completed on just 58 buildings per month.
It’s clear that the backlog is widening – and threatens to do so unchecked. Yet the number only tell part of this troubling story.
Systemic bottlenecks
As a platform that supports building inspections, compliance workflows and remediation reporting, at Property Inspect we are uniquely positioned to observe how this crisis is unfolding in practice.
We are seeing delays occur not simply due to construction hold-ups but because of systemic administrative and procedural bottlenecks.
For example, remediation sign-offs are taking up to 48 weeks, even when the physical work has been completed. This is typically a result of documentation errors, incomplete evidence submissions, or inconsistencies in file formats.
This time wasted means that contractors are unable to transition to new projects, which is resulting in growing financial strain and further disrupting schedules.
In the midst of all of this chaos, housing providers are caught between regulators and remediation teams, with little visibility over where or why delays are occurring.
In short, this is not only a housing emergency but also a fundamental breakdown in the infrastructure that should be supporting safe, timely remediation.
While the Building Safety Regulator and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities have committed funding and frameworks, the delivery of remediation is still reliant on fragmented workflows, outdated submission processes and poor information standards.
To illustrate, I can list just a few of the repeated issues we’re seeing at Property Inspect:
Let’s start with inconsistent photographic evidence, documents without metadata or version control, and ambiguous remediation progress reports. From there, there is a complete lack of proper coordination across all responsible parties and stakeholders, all of whom are struggling to navigate opaque, poorly defined goals and expectations which make it almost impossible to measure or even define success.
These issues are not technical challenges; they are structural inefficiencies. And until they are addressed, the remediation backlog will continue to grow, regardless of how much money is pledged.
How do we deliver real, positive change?
To be able to bring about real change, three system-level reforms are needed.
First, we need to see standardised, digitised Evidence Packs. This means that all remediation projects must be supported by a universal submission template, which should include structured photographic evidence, contractor certifications, inspection reports and metadata to verify authenticity and chronology.
Second, we need a National Remediation Tracker. At the moment, there is no publicly accessible tool showing live status updates for each building. A digital, multi-stakeholder dashboard would reduce duplication, enable accountability and eliminate informational blind spots.
Finally, funding must be tethered to compliance standards and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). In other words, future funding needs to be tied to demonstrable progress and proper documentation. Equally, SLAs must be enforced for both submission and regulatory review timeframes, ensuring that no project languishes in limbo due to administrative inertia.
While remediation firms are stuck waiting for sign-offs they cannot influence, let’s not forget that at the heart of all of this lacklustre remediation management, thousands of people remain stranded in homes they cannot sell or access. Some of them are in buildings that we can’t even say for sure are safe.
“We are seeing delays occur not simply due to construction hold-ups but because of systemic administrative and procedural bottlenecks.”
Through every stage of inspection and reporting, we are seeing a process held back by systemic inefficiencies not, as some would have you believe, technical limitations. This remediation crisis cannot be solved through policy alone; it must be delivered through operational reform.
Without a fundamental shift in how remediation is recorded, verified and signed off, the UK will continue to fall behind. That’s why Property Inspect is calling for the structure, visibility and national leadership required to turn intention into action.
Without this, we risk failing to uphold even the most basic of decent living standards and deepening what is already a shambolic stain on our nation’s copybook.
The post Beyond the backlog: Why the UK’s cladding remediation is a systems failure appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
