Joint plan to accelerate the remediation of social housing

In August 2025, the Government published its joint plan to accelerate the remediation of social housing (“the Joint Plan”).

The Joint Plan builds on the Remediation Acceleration Plan (“RAP”) which was published by the Government in December 2024 and updated in July 2025. The central aim of the Joint Plan is resolving the volume of social housing buildings in England which still have unsafe cladding. 

The Government recognises that social landlords face challenges in remediating buildings at pace, including access to capital, the ability to recover costs from third parties, and access to the necessary technical and professional capabilities. As such, the Government plans to assist social landlords by providing additional support including equal access to Government remediation funding and wrap around support for applications to any Government scheme.

The Government invites all social landlords with one or more residential buildings over 11m to sign up to the Joint Plan; that will commit those social landlords to meet target dates for the remediation of unsafe cladding on residentials buildings over 11m.

Target Dates

As mentioned above, the Joint Plan contains a commitment to meet target dates for the remediation of unsafe cladding on residential buildings over 11m. The target dates as set out in the Joint Plan are the same as those under the RAP, and are as follows:

1. Residential buildings over 18m in a Government funded scheme are to be remediated by the end of 2029.
2. Residential buildings over 11m with unsafe cladding must be either remediated or have a date for completion by the end of 2029, or its landlords will be liable for penalties. Under the wider RAP, remedial works must be completed on buildings over 11m by 2031.

Actions

The Joint Plan seeks to achieve the same three objectives set out in the RAP, namely: 

1. fix buildings faster;
2. identify all 11m+ residential buildings with unsafe cladding; and
3. support residents.

In furtherance of these objectives, the Joint Plan contains a series of actions the Government and social landlords commit to by signing.

Action 1 requires social landlords to work to the timetable set out above. That is not a commitment social landlords may be able to avoid in any event, by virtue of the Government’s intention to introduce the timetable into statute through the Remediation Bill. In addition, by Actions 7 and 8, the Government sets out its intention to bring in a new statutory Duty to Remediate requiring all landlords to remediate all life-critical cladding-related fire safety defects by the target dates. The new legislation will enable regulators to apply significant sanctions if landlords fail to comply.

Action 2 will see the Government give social landlords equal access to Government remediation funding. This is available to social landlords through the recently amended provisions of the Cladding Safety Scheme (“CSS”). The CSS now is available to all buildings over 11m in England and, under the amended CSS, social landlords will be eligible for funding:

1. regardless of whether the residents are social tenants or leaseholders;
2. without having to demonstrate that the social landlord would otherwise be in financial distress; and
3. while pursuing cost recovery from third parties in parallel (i.e. rather than exhaust recovery options in the first instance). 

In addition to funding for social landlords, the Government has introduced wraparound support for social landlords that apply to a Government remediation scheme; this includes pre-tender guidance and technical assistance. The Government hopes that this commitment will mean that remedial works are completed sooner and social landlords will have the financial certainty to remediate and continue to deliver new affordable homes.

By signing up, although the amended provisions of the CSS will allow pursuing cost recovery in parallel, under Action 5 social landlords commit to pursue out-of-court routes, for example mediation or adjudication, to resolve cost recovery disputes. 

The Government indicates its intention to provide and run a single data platform, the National Remediation System, across the sector for relevant buildings over 11m with a view to enhance information sharing. This will require social landlords to provide regular reports on all stock over 11m including which buildings are safe, which require remedial works and the progress on any such remedial works.

The Joint Plan requires social landlords to obtain FRAEWs on all buildings over 11m by December 2027. It is worth noting that recent changes in legislation (in particular changes brought about by the Fire Safety Act 2021) already place a duty on Responsible Persons to assess the risk of external walls. To assist with achieving this, Homes England will make available to social landlords a panel of fire safety engineers and commission independent audits of assessments carried out to ensure independent validation. 

In order to provide residents with support before, during, and after remedial works, social landlords must follow Homes England guidance and adhere to the Code of Practice for the Remediation of Residential Buildings. In addition, the Joint Plan requires social landlords to facilitate subletting of shared ownership units (where this is usually otherwise restricted) while the remedial works are being carried out and thereafter while the shared owner demonstrates its efforts to sell the property.

Summary

In summary, the Joint Plan contains a variety of obligations on the part of both social landlords and the Government. However, by reason of the amendments to the CSS, and the Government’s intention to enshrine the remediation timeline in statute, it is likely that social landlords will be subject to the obligations contained in the Joint Plan in any event. 

For further information please contact Matthew Cocklin, Alicia Ogborn or Bethany Penman.