Signed Off (But Not Safe)

Led Zeppelin’s Communication Breakdown Wasn’t the Only One

Cladding Matters - Today at 1pm

Article by Hamish McLay, conveyancing collaborator

There’s something fitting about a classic rock reference when it comes to cladding and construction. Because if there’s one thing the ongoing crisis has laid bare, it’s just how loud the silence can be when people stop listening.

Today at 1pm, Cladding Matters returns - not with a panel of experts or glossy presentations, instead,  with a pared-down, honest conversation that cuts straight to the issue: communication breakdowns. Not in theory, rather in lived experience.

Gareth Wax is in the chair as always. Stephen Day joins as he does every week - a resident of Royal Artillery Quays (RAQ) and a relentless campaigner for change. And unusually, that’s it for the guest list. Just the three of us, tackling what happens when those responsible for keeping people safe fall silent, pass the buck, or throw out vague reassurances instead of facts.

It’s about Communication Breakdown for a reason.

Royal Artillery Quays, like far too many other developments across the UK, has suffered from years of unclear messaging, shifting responsibilities, and mounting frustrations. Stephen has lived through it all: the lack of transparency from developers, the fire safety confusion, and the uphill struggle to get straight answers on who pays, what’s being fixed, and when.

If you've followed Cladding Matters before, you'll know RAQ isn’t an isolated case. From Manchester to Birmingham, London to Leeds, thousands of leaseholders are still caught in a maze of conflicting updates, technical language, and changing deadlines. Meanwhile, their lives - financial, emotional, and psychological - are on hold. It’s not just about bricks and panels; it’s about trust.

Communication, in this context, should mean more than press releases and placating statements. It should mean clarity. Accountability. Acknowledging the real impact of silence and spin.

When we talk to residents like Stephen, the pattern is depressingly familiar. Developers who once promised swift remediation work now hedge their language. Management companies shift blame upward, downward, or sideways. Government schemes appear, disappear, or get mired in red tape. The result? People are left in limbo, trying to navigate legal and financial pressures without the information they need.

We want this episode to offer something different: not another discussion about policy intentions or high-level frameworks, instead, a ground-level view of what this feels like when you're the one living with it. What it means to wake up each day not knowing whether your home is safe. What it's like to pay escalating service charges without a clear timeline for resolution. What it's like to be promised “soon” for three years straight.

And beyond just naming the problem, we’re asking tough but necessary questions:

What would meaningful communication really look like?
Who benefits from the confusion - and who pays the price?
How do we hold systems to account, when they seem designed to stall?

Communication breakdowns don’t just delay progress; they fracture communities. They undermine confidence. And, in cases like these, they endanger lives.

But we also know that clarity is possible. We've seen it in rare but powerful examples - building managers who keep residents consistently updated, developers who take responsibility without coercion, MPs who advocate loudly and persistently. These aren't miracles. They're simply people choosing honesty and transparency over optics and deflection.

That’s why this week’s conversation matters. No big panel. No shiny slogans. Just a direct, grounded dialogue rooted in lived experience and a shared belief that communication shouldn’t be an afterthought in building safety - it should be the baseline.

If you’re a leaseholder, a campaigner, or someone just trying to make sense of what’s gone wrong and how to fix it, join us. Today at 1pm, across the usual platforms. You might not hear any Led Zeppelin, but you’ll definitely hear why that old song title still hits a nerve.

PS:
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