3 minutes reading time
(663 words)
Unsafe, Unsellable: Cladding and Remediation Stalling the Market
The cladding crisis may have slipped from the headlines, yet its grip on the UK property market is as tight as ever. Thousands of buildings remain classed as unsafe, and the pace of remediation continues to crawl. For residents living with daily uncertainty, the wait is measured not just in years, but in financial strain, emotional toll, and lost opportunities.
This is not a problem confined to a few high-profile cases. Across the country, towers, mid-rise blocks, and even some low-rise developments are caught in a tangle of funding delays, regulatory bottlenecks, and insurance hurdles. For many leaseholders, the market is effectively closed.
One of the biggest roadblocks remains the External Wall System (EWS1) form. Without it, mortgage lenders simply will not approve a sale. Deals fall through before they can get off the ground. The shortage of qualified assessors to sign off these forms is still a major stumbling block years after Grenfell. Even where partial remediation work has been completed, insurers can still classify buildings as unsafe, driving premiums to crippling levels and locking owners into unsustainable costs.
Funding schemes such as the Building Safety Fund and the Cladding Safety Scheme were set up to provide answers. In practice, they can be slow-moving and difficult to navigate. Leaseholders are often caught between government criteria, developers reluctant to commit, and building owners unwilling to take responsibility. Some face personal bills running into tens of thousands of pounds, while others are tied up in legal disputes over who should bear the cost.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR), operating under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, was meant to change the pace. Instead, under-resourcing and limited capacity have meant that applications for approval and inspections move at a crawl. In some cases, delays are stretching into years, prolonging uncertainty for residents and keeping whole developments in limbo.
The market impact is clear. In buildings with unresolved cladding issues, sales have fallen by as much as 85 percent. Values have dropped by up to a third in some regions. In effect, thousands of homes have been removed from the market altogether. Entire communities are trapped in a cycle where they cannot sell, cannot remortgage, and cannot plan for the future.
The knock-on effect is being felt in the new-build sector too. Developers are navigating a complex landscape of safety compliance, which has slowed the pace of new housing starts to record lows in cities like London. With fewer completions and a backlog of unsafe homes, the housing market as a whole is losing momentum.
Behind these figures are human stories. Families who bought what they thought were safe, modern homes now find themselves paying for waking watches, facing huge insurance hikes, or living in buildings surrounded by scaffolding for years on end. Young buyers are stuck in unsuitable flats they cannot sell. Retirees have seen their plans to downsize vanish. In every case, the promise of home ownership has been replaced by a sense of being trapped.
This Friday at 1pm, Cladding Matters returns to look at why, eight years after Grenfell, cladding and remediation are still holding up the housing market. The panel will include Stephen Day of Royal Artillery Quays, Wendy Gibson, and Dan Bruce – a resident in a block of flats in Camden Town that have been deemed structurally unsound and valued at £0. Together, they will explore the market impact, the regulatory hurdles, and the lived experience of those in unsafe and unsellable homes.
The crisis may have moved out of the headlines, yet for those affected, it remains a daily reality. Until funding flows more freely, regulators have the resources to approve works quickly, and insurers regain confidence in remediated buildings, the property market will continue to feel the strain.
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This is not a problem confined to a few high-profile cases. Across the country, towers, mid-rise blocks, and even some low-rise developments are caught in a tangle of funding delays, regulatory bottlenecks, and insurance hurdles. For many leaseholders, the market is effectively closed.
One of the biggest roadblocks remains the External Wall System (EWS1) form. Without it, mortgage lenders simply will not approve a sale. Deals fall through before they can get off the ground. The shortage of qualified assessors to sign off these forms is still a major stumbling block years after Grenfell. Even where partial remediation work has been completed, insurers can still classify buildings as unsafe, driving premiums to crippling levels and locking owners into unsustainable costs.
Funding schemes such as the Building Safety Fund and the Cladding Safety Scheme were set up to provide answers. In practice, they can be slow-moving and difficult to navigate. Leaseholders are often caught between government criteria, developers reluctant to commit, and building owners unwilling to take responsibility. Some face personal bills running into tens of thousands of pounds, while others are tied up in legal disputes over who should bear the cost.
The Building Safety Regulator (BSR), operating under the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, was meant to change the pace. Instead, under-resourcing and limited capacity have meant that applications for approval and inspections move at a crawl. In some cases, delays are stretching into years, prolonging uncertainty for residents and keeping whole developments in limbo.
The market impact is clear. In buildings with unresolved cladding issues, sales have fallen by as much as 85 percent. Values have dropped by up to a third in some regions. In effect, thousands of homes have been removed from the market altogether. Entire communities are trapped in a cycle where they cannot sell, cannot remortgage, and cannot plan for the future.
The knock-on effect is being felt in the new-build sector too. Developers are navigating a complex landscape of safety compliance, which has slowed the pace of new housing starts to record lows in cities like London. With fewer completions and a backlog of unsafe homes, the housing market as a whole is losing momentum.
Behind these figures are human stories. Families who bought what they thought were safe, modern homes now find themselves paying for waking watches, facing huge insurance hikes, or living in buildings surrounded by scaffolding for years on end. Young buyers are stuck in unsuitable flats they cannot sell. Retirees have seen their plans to downsize vanish. In every case, the promise of home ownership has been replaced by a sense of being trapped.
This Friday at 1pm, Cladding Matters returns to look at why, eight years after Grenfell, cladding and remediation are still holding up the housing market. The panel will include Stephen Day of Royal Artillery Quays, Wendy Gibson, and Dan Bruce – a resident in a block of flats in Camden Town that have been deemed structurally unsound and valued at £0. Together, they will explore the market impact, the regulatory hurdles, and the lived experience of those in unsafe and unsellable homes.
The crisis may have moved out of the headlines, yet for those affected, it remains a daily reality. Until funding flows more freely, regulators have the resources to approve works quickly, and insurers regain confidence in remediated buildings, the property market will continue to feel the strain.
PS:
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For podcast/media info:
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