Cladding Safety Scheme opens for high-risk buildings under 11 metres

Applications have opened for new government funding to remove unsafe cladding from the highest-risk residential buildings under 11 metres in England.

The funding, announced in July, forms part of the existing Cladding Safety Scheme and is intended to support remediation work on buildings considered to pose the greatest risk to residents.

Applications opened on 17 August and will remain open for eight weeks, with Homes England responsible for allocating the funding.

Until now, buildings under 11 metres have not routinely been covered by the scheme, leaving some leaseholders facing significant bills to address fire safety defects.

The move follows the government’s Remediation Acceleration Plan, which stated that funding could be made available for blocks below 11 metres in “exceptional circumstances”.

In 2022, former housing minister Stuart Andrew also said the government would consider, on a case-by-case basis, whether lower-rise blocks required expensive remediation work to address fire safety issues.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has said the latest approach marks a wider shift away from using height alone as the deciding factor, with buildings now prioritised according to the level of risk they present to residents.

Campaign group End Our Cladding Scandal welcomed the recognition of prolonged uncertainty for residents in lower-rise buildings, but warned that limited funding could leave affected leaseholders facing further delays.

The group said the announcement represented a “small step forward”, but raised concerns that the measure could become another narrow and bureaucratic route that fails to resolve the wider building safety crisis quickly enough.

Latest government data shows the number of social housing blocks with unsafe cladding that are not expected to be remediated for at least a decade rose by 18% in the three months to March 2026.