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. As of January 2025, government data confirms:
- 5,025 residential buildings over 11 metres have been identified with unsafe cladding
- Only 1,482 buildings (29%) have completed remediation
- 2,410 (48%) have either started or completed remediation works
- An average of 62 buildings per month are being added to the remediation monitoring list
- Just 58 buildings per month are seeing remediation completed
The result is a widening backlog, not a shrinking one. But the numbers only tell part of the story.
As a platform that supports building inspections, compliance workflows, and remediation reporting, Property Inspect is uniquely positioned to observe how this crisis is unfolding in practice.
We are seeing delays not simply due to construction hold-ups, but because of systemic administrative and procedural bottlenecks:
- Remediation sign-offs are taking up to 48 weeks, even when physical work is completed, due to documentation errors, incomplete evidence submissions, or inconsistencies in file formats.
- Contractors are unable to transition to new projects, resulting in growing financial strain and disrupted schedules.
- 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, it's 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 and Communities have committed funding and frameworks, the delivery of remediation is still reliant on fragmented workflows, outdated submission processes, and poor information standards.
Too often, Property Inspect sees:
- Inconsistent photographic evidence
- Documents without metadata or version control
- Ambiguous remediation progress reports
- Lack of coordination across responsible parties
- Navigating opaque expectations
These issues are not technical challenges, they are structural inefficiencies. And until they are addressed, the backlog will continue to grow, no matter how much money is pledged.
To be able to bring about real change, three system-level reforms are needed:
- Standardised, Digitised Evidence Packs. All remediation projects must be supported by a universal submission template. This should include structured photographic evidence, contractor certifications, inspection reports, and metadata to verify authenticity and chronology.
- A National Remediation Tracker. 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.
- Funding Linked to Compliance Standards and SLAs. Future funding should be tied to demonstrable progress and proper documentation. Equally, Service Level Agreements (SLAs) must be enforced for both submission and regulatory review timeframes, ensuring that no project languishes in limbo due to administrative inertia.
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, Operations Director at Property Inspect, commented:
“Thousands of people remain stranded in homes they cannot sell or access. Remediation firms are stuck waiting for sign-offs they cannot influence,” says Sián Hemming-Metcalfe.
“What we are seeing, through every stage of inspection and reporting, is a process held back by systemic inefficiencies, not technical limitations. The 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. This is not a call for innovation for its own sake. It is a call for structure, visibility, and national leadership to turn intention into delivery.
