The UK’s continued difficulties in remediating flammable cladding from its housing stock following the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017 has been blamed on a “fundamental breakdown” in infrastructure.
Property Inspect, a platform that supports building inspections, compliance workflows, and remediation reporting, responded to government data showing that 5,025 residential buildings over 11 metres have been identified with unsafe cladding, though just 1,482 buildings (29%) have completed remediation.
An average of 62 buildings per month are being added to the remediation monitoring list, though just 58 buildings per month are seeing remediation completed.
The issues
In summary, the problems stem from fragmented infrastructure, Property Inspect said.
As it stands 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.
Meanwhile housing providers are caught between regulators and remediation teams, with little visibility over where or why delays are occurring.
Property Inspect said it sees inconsistent photographic evidence; documents without metadata or version control; ambiguous remediation progress reports; and a lack of coordination across responsible parties.
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have committed funding and frameworks, the delivery of remediation is still reliant on fragmented workflows, outdated submission processes, and poor information standards.
Solutions
To bring about change, Property Inspect recommended for the introduction of standardised, digitised evidence packs, with a universal submission template. This should include structured photographic evidence, contractor certifications, inspection reports, and metadata to verify authenticity and chronology.
There should also be a national remediation tracker, so there’s a publicly assessable tool showing live status updates for each building. This would reduce duplication, enable accountability, and eliminate informational blind spots.
Finally there should be funding linked to compliance standards and SLAs, so funding is conditional on there being progress and proper documentation. Service Level Agreements (SLAs) should be enforced for both submission and regulatory review timeframes, ensuring that no project languishes in limbo due to administrative inertia.
Conclusion
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Property Inspect, said: “Thousands of people remain stranded in homes they cannot sell or access. Remediation firms are stuck waiting for sign-offs they cannot influence.
“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.”