London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 24, 2026

Gove must spend ‘billions more’ to end building fire safety crisis

Gove must spend ‘billions more’ to end building fire safety crisis

Campaigners say £4bn package to replace Grenfell-style cladding fails to address other safety problems

Michael Gove must spend billions more on ending the fire safety crisis in homes across England, campaigners will say on Monday, as they warn that his latest move to replace all Grenfell-style cladding overlooks myriad other risks faced by leaseholders.

The secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities will unveil a £4bn package that enables leaseholders to escape the onerous costs involved in replacing combustible cladding, announcing to parliament that residents of blocks between 11m and 18m tall will no longer face crippling bills.

He will tell building companies and manufacturers of combustible materials: “We are coming for you” in a new plan to hold them accountable, with a warning that firms have shown “insufficient contrition” since the disaster that killed 72 people in June 2017.

But leaseholders in buildings with other fire-safety problems – such as wooden balconies – will still face huge bills, and campaigners will urge Gove to help these people to finally draw a line under the crisis.


“This feels like it could be the beginning of the end of our cladding scandal, but we are still a long way away from solving it,” said Giles Grover, a spokesperson for the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign group. “The government is still focusing on cladding, but they know full well it goes beyond that. People are still facing life-changing costs.”

People living in unsafe properties have been landed with bills of up to £200,000. Many blocks have combustible cladding, but also problems with defective fire doors, flammable balconies and missing firebreaks because of non-compliant building works. Under the new Treasury-approved plan, which aims to force developers to pay the £4bn bill but could require funds to be diverted from existing government budgets, only cladding remediation costs will be covered.

Campaigners want a change to the law to protect them from all costs caused by fire safety defects that were not their fault. The latest funding will add to the £5.1bn already announced for fixing combustible cladding on apartment blocks over 18m in height. Yet the cost of remedying all post-Grenfell fire safety problems was last year estimated by MPs at £15bn – and may be even higher.

Gove will say if developers and builders don’t pay, government could legislate to force them to pay up.

In the meantime, the Treasury has made clear that any public funds required will have to be diverted from the Department of Levelling Up’s existing budget, according to a letter leaked to BBC Newsnight.

Source: Government estimates of all buildings, not just those with dangerous cladding,April 2020 (over 18 metres), September 2021 (under 18 metres) . *whichever is reached first


However, construction lobbyists argue that firms that manufactured or supplied combustible cladding should be urged to shoulder the financial burden.

The Home Builders Federation (HBF) said the largest housebuilders had already spent or committed £1bn to fix the buildings for which they were responsible.

Stewart Baseley, the HBF’s executive chairman, said: “Whilst housebuilders are committed to playing their part, there are many other organisations involved in the construction of affected buildings, including housing associations and local authorities.

“As well as developers and government, other parties should be involved in remediation costs, not least material manufacturers who designed, tested and sold materials that developers purchased in good faith that were later proved to not be fit for purpose.”

Ministers could end up paying millions of pounds if developers cannot be identified. For instance, foreign developers often set up UK shell companies that share out work between subcontractors, then dissolve once it is finished. In other cases, developers may have since gone bust, meaning there is no corporate entity to target.

If the Treasury does not give the housing department more money to cover the costs of remediation for buildings with no obvious developer, it could eat into the government’s budget for other projects to increase the supply of new homes, an industry source warned.

Taylor Wimpey said the company had already committed to fixing its buildings. “We trust that we will not be penalised for our early action to do the right thing,” a spokesperson said. “This is an industry-wide issue and therefore needs an industry-wide solution.”

Gove’s expected announcements were cautiously welcomed by leaseholders, who feel a solution may be finally be in sight, after many have suffered serious mental health problems in the intervening years. Homeowners have been trapped in unsellable, in effect worthless homes, which has destroyed plans to move jobs, have children and marry.

Striking a more aggressive tone than his predecessors, Gove is set to say: “Those who manufactured dangerous products and developed dangerous buildings have shown insufficient contrition.”

He is planning to signal a new “proportionate” attitude to risk and, crucially, will scrap post-Grenfell advice from the government that all residential block wall systems need checking for possible removal and replacement, regardless of building height.

He will say sprinklers and fire alarms should be used more often to mitigate risks instead of expensive remediation works. The government will also start auditing assessments of the risks posed by buildings to make sure expensive fixes are only being proposed where lives are at risk.

Gove’s intervention comes ahead of former ministers facing questioning at the Grenfell Tower public inquiry over claims that Conservative-led governments prioritised a “bonfire of red tape” over safety.

Labour’s shadow housing minister, Matthew Pennycook, said: “On the face of it, these proposals appear far less significant than they sound … There is nothing new for the significant numbers of leaseholders facing huge bills to fix non-cladding defects; no guarantee that the cost of remediating buildings under 18 metres won’t be drawn from already allocated public funding; no help for the countless leaseholders currently mired in mortgage chaos.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Royal Navy Commandos Complete Maritime Operations Training With US Navy SEALs
Vistry Profit Warning Adds to Concerns Over UK Housebuilding Conditions
UK Commits £343 Million to Major Expansion of Community Mental Health Services
Five Eyes Partners Back UK-Led Campaign Against Global Fraud Networks
UK Businesses Gain Full Access to £13 Trillion CPTPP Trading Bloc
UK Allocates Nearly £10 Billion for Council, Social and Affordable Housing
Chancellor John Healey Unveils Deregulation Drive to Accelerate UK Investment and Growth
Prime Minister Andy Burnham Sets Out Post-Brexit Foreign Policy Vision at United Nations
UK Reassesses Chagos Arrangements as Burnham Seeks New Path on Diego Garcia
Key Trends to Watch
Government’s “Buy British” Procurement Push Targets More Domestic Jobs and Industrial Capacity
Scotland Launches Four-Year Flood Resilience Programme With New Community Funding
Low-Income Renters Face Record Gap Between Housing Support and Private Rents
UK and US Test Torpedo Launch From British Undersea Drone in Defence Technology Milestone
Britain Pushes Artificial Intelligence Security Onto United Nations Security Council Agenda
Treasury Committee Defends Office for Budget Responsibility Independence Amid Fiscal Pressure
Scotland Records Eleven Per Cent Rise in Drug-Use Deaths as Cocaine and Nitazenes Drive Concern
Welsh Government Sets Four-Year Programme Around Health, Living Costs, Jobs and Housing
Study Finds Most People With High Blood Pressure in England Remain Undiagnosed
Britain Plans First National Workplace Health System to Tackle Economic Inactivity
England to Introduce Vocational GCSEs in Major Secondary Education Reform
UK Elevates Climate and Nature Risks to National Security Priority
Andy Burnham and Donald Trump Put Trade at Centre of First Major Bilateral Meeting
Andy Burnham and Ursula von der Leyen Push Ahead With Closer UK-European Union Economic Ties
UK Government Borrowing Jumps to Eighteen Point Three Billion Pounds Ahead of October Budget
Piddington Residents Back Symbolic Independence Vote Over Asylum Accommodation Plan
Reform UK Names Helen Jenner as New Leader in Wales
England Expands Devolution of Transport, Skills and Economic Development Powers
Liberal Democrats Call for Temporary Fuel Duty Cut to Ease Cost-of-Living Pressure
UK Farmers Warn Drought Has Caused Crop Failures and Reduced Harvests
UK Fixed Mortgage Rates Approach 6% as Lenders Raise Borrowing Costs
YouGov Poll Puts Labour at 23% With Conservatives and Reform UK on 21%
Badenoch Presses Burnham to Increase Defence Spending and Cut Welfare Costs
UK Military Figures Warn of Growing Threats to Undersea Infrastructure and National Readiness
BP Moves Ahead With Sale of UK North Sea Oil and Gas Business
UK and ASEAN Endorse New Framework for Trade and Economic Cooperation
UK Consumer Confidence Falls to Three-Year Low as Borrowing Costs and Job Concerns Rise
UK Inflation Rises to 3.1% as Motor Fuel Costs Push Prices Higher
Bank of England Sets Multi-Year Plan to Wind Down Quantitative Easing Holdings
UK Borrowing Rises to £18.3 Billion in August Ahead of October Budget
Michelin Guide Faces Industry Questions Over Restaurant Inspection Coverage
English Woodlands Face Renewed Weather Stress From Dry Conditions and Strong Winds
Research Finds Extensive Alcohol, Gambling and Unhealthy Food Branding During 2026 World Cup
Five Charged After Newborn Baby Dies From Stab Wounds in Sheffield
BT Could Reap £2 Billion From Recycling Copper as Full-Fibre Network Expands
FCA Urges Young Adults to Trace £1.5 Billion in Unclaimed Child Trust Funds
Reform UK Names Helen Jenner as New Leader in Wales After Dan Thomas Steps Down
Resolution Foundation Calls for Broad-Based Tax Rises to Fund Higher UK Defence Spending
Ed Davey Calls for Global Treaty to Halt Development of Super-Intelligent AI
Scotland Consults on Legal Price Caps for Essential Foods
×