Information for residents on cladding and other fire safety works

[edit] Checking fire safety in multi-occupancy residential buildings

If you live in a building divided into multiple properties, for example flats or bedsits (also called a multi-occupancy residential building) you should be told who is in charge of fire safety. For the common parts and structure of the building, this will usually be the building owner or manager.

They must get a fire risk assessment to check for risks. If it’s not clear whether the external walls are safe, this must include a fire risk appraisal of external walls to check these.

They must tell you about fire safety arrangements in the building.

[edit] Who is paying to fix fire safety defects including unsafe cladding

Most leaseholders will not pay anything towards the cost of replacing or fixing unsafe cladding. If your building is over 11 metres high you may have to pay towards fixing other defects, but these costs are capped and any money already paid counts towards this cap. Generally, building owners or developers are expected to cover these costs.

Many property developers in England have agreed to fix life-critical fire safety defects in buildings they built or refurbished in England in the 30 years up to 4 April 2022. They have also agreed to pay back the taxpayer for any of these buildings that were remediated in a government fund. Read further advice for residents of buildings where the developer will undertake fire safety works.

Government funding schemes are paying for some fire safety works to be undertaken where eligible buildings do not have a funding solution, to protect leaseholders from these costs.

You can check the progress of your building’s application to the Building Safety Fund if you have been told it is in this scheme. Read about the Building Safety Fund process and indicative timescales.

[edit] Leaseholders and paying towards fire safety works

If you have a qualifying lease, you are protected in law from paying towards the costs for making your building safe (also called leaseholder protections). This includes a cap to the amount you may be asked to contribute through the service charge.

Leaseholder protections apply to your lease if all the following are true:

• it is a long lease (over 21 years) of a single dwelling in a building above 11 metres or at least 5 storeys
• you are responsible for paying a service charge
• the lease was granted before 14 February 2022

either the dwelling was your only or main home where you spent most of your time, or you owned no more than 3 dwellings in the United Kingdom in total

You can check if you’ll have to pay to fix safety problems with your building by using our building safety costs eligibility checker.

You can show you are a qualifying leaseholder by completing a deed of certificate. You will need to give this to your building owner so they can calculate any contribution you need to make, if any.

[edit] Getting a mortgage or selling your home if it has a fire safety problem

Many banks and building societies (mortgage lenders) have agreed as part of an industry statement to lend on mid and high-rise buildings with fire safety problems as long as either:

• safety issues are being fixed by the developer or through a government-funded scheme
• or the leaseholder has filled in a deed of certificate which should be sent to the building owner.

Mortgage lenders who have agreed to lend include:

• Barclays
• Hodge Bank
• HSBC
• Lloyds Banking Group
• Nationwide
• NatWest
• Santander
• Skipton Building Society
• TSB
• Virgin Money

If you need proof that safety issues are being fixed you should speak to the person or organisation responsible for your building.

Some lenders may choose to ask for an EWS1 form, although these are not legally required when selling a property. Read more about EWS1 forms on the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) website.

[edit] Getting buildings insurance while waiting for fire safety works

An insurance industry scheme is helping to improve the availability of insurance for buildings over 11 metres or over 4 storeys high awaiting work to fix fire safety issues. Read more about the fire safety reinsurance facility on the Association of British Insurers website.

If you are a leaseholder, you should contact the person or company who arranges your building’s insurance cover and ask them to discuss the fire safety reinsurance facility with their broker or insurer.

The insurance broker pledge will also benefit leaseholders in buildings over 11 metres or over 4 storeys high with identified fire safety defects, where the insurance broker has been told about these details.

As part of this, 14 insurance broker companies have pledged to:

• cap their commissions to 15%
• stop sharing commissions with managing agents, landlords and freeholders
• share policy information with leaseholders if requested, in line with Financial Conduct Authority regulations.

[edit] If your building is under 11 metres high

Buildings under 11 metres high are less likely to need costly fire safety works to make them safe as the risk to life is lower.

However, a small number of buildings will need work to make them safe. Cheaper measures like fire alarms are often more appropriate if work is needed on buildings of this size.

If you are in a building under 11 metres high and work is being proposed, you should check with your building owner whether this work is based on the correct standard (a fire risk assessment including a fire risk appraisal of external walls to PAS 9980:2022 standards).

If work is needed, the Building Safety Act 2022 has made it easier for building owners to make claims against those who built the building. The Defective Premises Act now allows claims where a building is not fit for habitation for up to 30 years. There are other ways this work could be paid for, such as new-build home warranties (if your building is under 10 years old) or buildings insurance.

If your building does need fire safety works, government expects freeholders to recover costs from those responsible for building unsafe homes and not from leaseholders.

[edit] What you should be told about cladding removal or other fire safety works

Many buildings are having unsafe cladding removed, getting other fire safety issues fixed or waiting for these works to start (all also known as remediation).

• Your building owner or manager should tell you:
• if your building has been checked
• if it needs any fire safety works
• how those works will be done
• when they will start, or how they’re preparing for them

If they are not giving you this information or keeping you updated, you can contact the government for advice.

[edit] Contacting government about fire safety works and your building

The quickest route to resolving an issue about your building is usually to contact those responsible, for example your building owner or manager, or those working on site. If this does not work, you can contact us for further advice.

The government is taking action to make it easier for people to buy, sell or re-finance properties, even where buildings need fire safety works. If this is proving difficult, or if you are having difficulty getting insurance for your building, we want to hear from you, so we can investigate and hold providers to account.

You can share anonymous feedback on your experiences of your building’s cladding and fire safety issues and works.

You can also contact us at correspondence@communities.gov.uk.

We welcome emails about:

• problems with fire safety works for your building or if you’re not being given information about these
• problems getting insurance for your building
• other questions, problems or feedback

It’s helpful if you can tell us as many of these things as possible so we can understand how best to respond to your query:

• your full address and postcode
• the height of your building or number of storeys
• any reference numbers you have from past conversations with the department or our ministers
• whether you own or rent the property
• which contractor is working on your building
• your building owner and their contact details
• if the works are developer-led or government-funded, if you know this
• your unique building code, if your building is in the Building Safety Fund and you have the code
• your lender or your buyer’s lender, for issues with mortgages
• your insurer and details of your policy, for issues with insurance

[edit] Independent support and advice for leaseholders

The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) provide independent advice on leaseholder rights. They can support you if you have any concerns about unsafe cladding or fire safety works. Find out more on the LEASE website.

This article is based on 'Guidance: Cladding and other fire safety works – information for residents' published by Gov.UK and updated 23 September 2024.