As part of an update to the Scottish Government’s Cladding Remediation: Plan of Action, the Scottish Government has today announced that housing associations and co-operatives will be able to receive grant funding support for cladding remediation for the first time.
This funding will be made available as part of the Single Open Call Phase Two (launched today). This puts social housing on an equal footing in regard to building safety funding with the private sector for the first time.
SFHA has been campaigning for this funding for many years now, and we have been in regular discussion with Scottish Government on this in recent weeks and months.
SFHA Chief Executive Sally Thomas said:
“The safety of tenants is absolutely paramount to all of Scotland’s housing associations and co-operatives, and they take their responsibility for this extremely seriously.
“For this reason, we’ve been clear that while unsafe cladding must be removed urgently, previous government plans did not provide housing associations with a direct pathway to access government funding for doing so. That meant there was a significant risk that the financial burden would fall on social tenants least able to afford it.
“We are really pleased to see Scottish Government have acted on our calls and changed direction, which means that there is now a funding package which allows any unsafe cladding to be removed as a matter of urgency and covers these costs across all forms of housing. This is a direct result of SFHA and our members working in partnership with Scottish Government as the plan was developed. We will continue to work with government to make sure the work proceeds quickly and efficiently for everyone who lives in an affected home.”
Scottish Government have also announced today:
- An additional £10m will be available for the Single Open Call Phase 1 and a timeline extension for applications to receive funding for a Single Building Assessment to 31 December 2025.
- £10m will be made available to accelerate intermediary mitigations whilst remediation works are completed such as interlinked fire alarm systems. Social landlords can be considered for receipt of this funding on a case-by-case basis. The funding will be in place until 31 December 2025 (subject to extension based on demand) and excludes buildings where developers have been identified and are taking responsibility for assessment and remediation.
- An intention to complete the joint Scottish Government/Scottish Housing Regulator information-gathering exercise on all relevant buildings over 11 metres owned by local authorities or Registered Social Landlords by October 2025. Where action is needed, the Scottish Government will work proactively with the building owners to ensure these buildings enter a funded and trackable assessment and remediation pathway as soon as possible. Throughout the process, the Government will continue to require building owners to provide complete information to ensure no relevant buildings are omitted from the programme.
- An intention to ensure that, by 2029, every high-risk residential building over 18 metres will have been resolved, with buildings between 11 and 18 metres placed on a clear pathway to resolution.
- An intention to finalise the Developer Remediation Contract. Developers will be invited to sign by a deadline of 31 October 2025. The contract will be agreed with participating developers, clarifying their obligations to assess and remediate buildings for which they have accepted responsibility.
Full details of the announcement can be found here.
SFHA will continue working with our members and Scottish Government in the coming days to analyse the announcements and seek clarifications.
Please contact rhughes@sfha.co.uk for further information. SFHA members can sign up to attend our next Building Safety and Maintenance Forum on 25th September where we will discuss the topic in more detail.
