Government could miss cladding removal target date – watchdog

The report assessed how fast the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) was completing work to replace dangerous cladding from tower blocks in England, and aimed to provide an update to a previous NAO report in 2020.

It found there had been “a substantial increase in remediation activity” since then, with 4,771 buildings taller than 11 metres being brought under the government’s remedial works scheme as of August.

However, an estimated 7,200 more buildings in England with such cladding still had not been identified and some “may never”, the NAO continued.

Progress with replacing the cladding was also slow, it found.

Although the MHCLG spent £2.3bn carrying out work on identified buildings, the report said work had only been completed on roughly a third of them and was yet to start on half.

The government’s suggested end date for completing cladding works on these buildings was 2035 but it was not on course to meet this deadline and “there are significant challenges to overcome”, the report stated.