When the Building Safety Regulator [BSR] was introduced, the promise was clear: stronger oversight, tougher accountability, and a genuine shift in focus to resident safety. That was the message. That was the intention.
So why is everyone still waiting?
Despite nearly two years of reforms and new frameworks, remediation remains painfully slow. As of May 2025, 5,176 residential buildings over 11 metres still have unsafe cladding.
Of those, only 48% have even started works, and just 34% have completed remediation.
In the high-risk Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) category, progress is often presented as a success story, with 96% of buildings started or completed.
Yet that still leaves 22 buildings untouched, several of them still occupied, and still posing clear fire safety concerns.
Wales has announced that all tall residential blocks now have a funded remediation route. In practice, though, campaigners say the rollout is glacial.
Many residents have yet to see any physical changes. The headlines may sound promising. The pace on the ground tells another story.
Nationally, the National Audit Office has warned that up to 60% of affected buildings haven’t even been identified.
The Public Accounts Committee has described the current performance as slow, under-resourced, and lacking any clear milestones.
Even the government’s own Acceleration Plan appears to be more aspiration than reality.
Campaigners and MPs remain deeply concerned. Less than a third of known buildings are fully remediated, and thousands more remain stuck in assessment or funding pipelines.
Up to three million residents across the UK continue to live in affected properties, facing delays, stress, and mounting costs.
Multiple overlapping schemes haven’t helped. Leaseholders report high insurance premiums, mortgage rejections, and emotional fatigue.
The promised reform may be in place on paper. The experience of those living with unsafe buildings often suggests otherwise.
Stephen Day as part of the panel shares his perspective from Royal Artillery Quays. It’s a site that has gone through just about every phase of the post-Grenfell landscape.
Residents there are still waiting on final timetables and clarity, despite years of assessments, plans and revised policies.
It’s a clear example of how regulatory changes have yet to translate into meaningful action.
One wonders whether the BSR has the independence and resources it needs. Its oversight shifted back under central government, raising concerns over whether enforcement powers remain weak.
The government has shown a bias towards builders rather than residents to date.
A further concern is whether regulators are properly staffed. Are deadlines, like the end of 2029 target, truly realistic? Who gets held to account when failures continue to stretch beyond foreseeable timelines?
Gareth Wax hosts, with Stephen Day, Hamish McLay and, fortunately for us, Wendy Gibson joining the panel once again. Wendy is well aware of the poor quality of some of the buildings that have gone up in recent years and brings valuable insight into how new developments are failing residents too.
It will be interesting to find out what they feel has really changed, what’s stalled, and why leaseholders still find themselves trapped, even with new rules in place.
Catch the episode live on Friday 18th July at 1pm. Replays are available on the Spilling the Proper-Tea YouTube channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@SpillingTheProper-Tea
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