For residents still living in buildings that failed basic safety checks, the promise of progress has become a waiting game.
This Friday’s Cladding Matters takes a national look at what’s really happening behind the scenes. In many cases, the risks have been identified and logged, yet meaningful action still hasn’t followed.
Hosted by Gareth Wax, with regular contributors Stephen Day and Hamish McLay, the conversation turns to the growing frustration among leaseholders caught in a post-Grenfell landscape stacked with mountains of paperwork, yet falling far short of delivering real outcomes.
At Royal Artillery Quays, more than eight years have passed since serious fire safety concerns were first raised. Assessments have been carried out, yet key next steps like funding, internal fire safety works and confirmed timelines remain unclear.
The same picture is emerging in towns and cities across the country. Some buildings have had cladding removed but remain uninsurable. Others are left with waking watches and spiralling costs, still waiting for a full remediation plan.
All the while, some of the developers behind these buildings are making different choices. Seven of the UK’s largest housebuilders, including Barratt-Redrow, have just offered to pay a combined £100 million to settle a Competition and Markets Authority investigation into anti-competitive behaviour.
The contrast is hard to ignore. These firms clearly have the resources when it comes to avoiding reputational damage. Yet when it comes to the homes they built with serious safety issues, many continue to stall, dodge responsibility, or push the burden onto leaseholders.
This isn’t a question of capacity. It’s a matter of priorities.
And for those living in unsafe buildings, it reinforces the sense that justice only arrives when it suits the builder’s interests – and often, the political ones too.
We’ll also consider whether the recent change in ministerial control is likely to make a difference. The return to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government may signal a reset, but residents are not expecting miracles.
After so many years of delay, many simply want clarity, accountability and a genuine timetable for works.
Cladding Matters returns this Friday at 1pm to reflect on why so many people are still waiting to feel safe in the homes they own—and what needs to change to break the cycle of delay.
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