An additional billion pounds is pledged for cladding remediation

A further drop in interest rates this month, and at least one more in the near future, is again stimulating new development. Are we finally emerging from what has been a mediocre year for the construction industry? We certainly hope that new build projects, which have picked up considerably, will get the further boost that is much needed to revitalise the fortunes of UK Construction. Welcome news indeed!

The new Labour government has promised an additional £1 billion for the cladding remediation programme in the government’s budget. This came after a report by the National Audit Office revealed some alarming statistics around the number of unidentified buildings with unsafe cladding and I quote:

“Of the 9000 to 12,000 buildings over 11 m that MHCLG estimates will need remediating, 4771 buildings have been identified and included in its portfolio, leaving up to 60% of affected buildings still to be identified.” (NAO Nov 24) 

This does not come as a surprise to many of us as the government has only ever counted the buildings registered. Additional funding and possible legislation changes may be what is needed to shift a gear and speed up the remediation of these buildings.

I’m glad to say that we have been out and about in the façade industry again with our Façade Focus event in October, where we hosted part two of our in-depth look at the effects of The Building Safety Act on the façade industry. Then, more recently, we attended Zak World of Facades where we met with many of our industry peers, followed by the SFE 2024 Design and Engineering Awards. Congratulations to all the winners.

On a final more personal note, I am very proud of our team, who have helped us to achieve our ISO9001 accreditation. Well done team PRA.