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Cladding remediation statistics in England

Cladding refers to materials applied to the outside of a building, for example, to increase energy efficiency or improve aesthetics. It is not structurally integral to the building. Cladding can be added to a building when it is built or as part of a refurbishment to an existing building.

After the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017, the UK Government has introduced significant changes to the building safety regime in England, and there have been several schemes set up to help remediate (remove) cladding from certain residential buildings. Information on the type of buildings included in the government programmes can be found in the Commons Library briefing on remediating cladding on blocks of flats under 11 metres.

The most recent legislation being introduced by the government is the Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill 2026-27.

What is unsafe cladding?

Government’s technical guidance sets out a definition for cladding and unsafe cladding:

• Cladding is a “System of one or more components that are attached to, and might form part of the weatherproof covering of, the exterior of a building”
• Unsafe cladding refers to “cladding systems that have been identified as containing combustible materials (e.g., a polyethylene core in an aluminium composite panel) and which failed the series of BS8414 tests commissioned by the government over summer 2017”.

How many buildings need remediation?

The exact number of buildings needing cladding remediation is not known.

However, the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) has estimated that, as of March 2026, between 5,900 and 7,400 residential buildings in England have, or have had, unsafe cladding requiring remediation. This estimate counts residential buildings, which are 11 metres or more in height.

This is around 8% to 14% of such buildings in England. Of these, around 2,800 to 3,700 buildings are mid-rise (11 metres to 18 metres) and 3,100 to 3,700 buildings are high rise (18 metres and above).

How much will remediation cost?

As of March 2025, MHCLG has estimated the cost of remediation will be between £11.8 billion and £22.7 billion once all works have been completed. Of this, it estimates the government will have funded £6.7 billion to £15.2 billion and non-government actors will have funded £5.2 billion to £7.4 billion.

This represents MHCLG’s “current best estimates and will be subject to change as more information becomes available”.

Height of buildings monitored by MHCLG

MHCLG data shows the number of buildings it is monitoring for cladding remediation. In its most recent release for the end of August 2026, MHCLG was monitoring 4,724 residential buildings identified with unsafe cladding.

The number of buildings monitored is between 65% and 81% of all buildings 11 metres and over in height expected to be remediated as part of MHCLG’s programmes.

The number of identified buildings is 27 higher than at the end of July 2026, and 927 higher than at the end of October 2023, when the department began reporting on all five remediation programmes.

Of the buildings with unsafe cladding in government programmes, 45% (2,135) are mid-rise (between 11 and 18 metres) and 55% (2,589) are high-rise buildings (18 metres and over). MHCLG estimates that the mid-rise buildings contain around 65,000 individual dwellings and the high-rise buildings contain around 185,000 dwellings.

Progress of remediation

Completed remediation over time

A timeline of the number of identified buildings being monitored in a government programme is available from December 2022 and shows monthly remediation progress as at the end of each month.

Up to and including September 2023, MHCLG data shows the combined remediation progress in the Building Safety Fund (BSF) and Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding programme only (for more on the government’s programmes, see below). Between June 2023 and September 2023 there was a decrease in the number of buildings because some buildings transferred from the BSF to being remediated by developers.

From October 2023, the department began reporting on the combined remediation progress of all five remediation programmes. From this date to November 2025, MHCLG data shows the progress for the BSF, ACM, Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS), developer remediation contract, and as reported by registered providers of social housing.

From October 2023 to November 2025, the number of identified buildings increased from 3,797, of which 19% (703) had completed remediation, to 5,613, of which 25% (1,938) had completed remediation. The number that had completed remediation includes those awaiting building control sign-off. The number of unique buildings and the number that had completed remediation increased each year over this period.

From December 2025, the data shows progress for the BSF, ACM, CSS, developer remediation contract and social self-funded buildings. Figures for December 2025 are not directly comparable to previous figures. This was because of changes made in the data collection and categorisation of social housing buildings.

From December 2025 to August 2026, the total unique buildings being monitored in a government remediation programme increased by 14% (598), while the number which had completed remediation increased by 25% (374).

In December 2025, there were 4,126 buildings being monitored, of which 36% had completed remediation. In August 2026, there were 4,724, of which 38% had completed remediation.

^{Source: MHCLG, Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - August 2026, 30 September 2026, management information tables, table Combined_6}

Buildings by remediation stage

MHCLG publishes a further breakdown of the remediation progress of buildings it is monitoring. Of the 4,724 identified residential buildings at the end of August 2026, 2,716 had not completed remediation. Of those:

• 18% (777 buildings) have started remediation
• 45% (1,939 buildings) have not started remediation.

The chart below shows the number of buildings monitored by MHCLG by the stage of remediation for August 2025 to August 2026. As highlighted above, figures for December 2025 are not directly comparable to previous figures. More information can be found in MHCLG’s building safety remediation technical note, published alongside the data release.

^{Source: MHCLG, Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - August 2026, 30 September 2026, figure 2}

Tenure

60% (2,827) of buildings 11 metres and over in height monitored by MHCLG were private buildings and 38% (1,796) were social buildings. The remaining 2% (101) were recorded under the ‘other’ tenure, which includes buildings that are recorded in the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) programme as student accommodation, hotels or public buildings.

56% of the social buildings and 52% of the private buildings have started or completed remediation on unsafe cladding as at the end of August 2026.

Almost all (99%) buildings under the ‘other’ tenure have started or completed remediation on unsafe cladding.

Breaking down further by remediation stage, 35% (990) of the private buildings with unsafe cladding had completed remediation (including those awaiting building control signoff), and 17% (481) had started remediation.

Of the social buildings, 42% (763) had completed remediation and 13% (237) had started remediation.

Region

Of the buildings monitored by MHCLG in England at 31 August 2026, over half (53%) are in the London region, while the North East had the lowest proportion of identified buildings, at around 1%.

London also had the highest proportion of buildings with completed remediation, with 54% of all monitored buildings in the region at this stage.

^{Source:  MHCLG, Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - August 2026, 30 September 2026, management information tables, Combined_7}

Further breakdowns of MHCLG data by area and programme type can be found in MHCLG’s remediation dashboard, published alongside the most recent data.

Progress of the government schemes

The National Audit Office’s 2024 report Dangerous cladding: the government’s remediation portfolio explains there are five government programmes for cladding remediation which MHCLG brought together in a single portfolio in 2023. The report explained that at this time MHCLG launched three new programmes “to support its policy reset”. These were the Cladding Safety Schemes (CCS), the Developer Remediation Programme, and the Social Housing Programme.

The CCS replaced an earlier proposal for a loan programme and includes grant funding to fix unsafe cladding in medium-rise buildings. The Developer Remediation and Social Housing Programmes were set up to oversee remediation paid for by developers and social housing providers.

How many buildings are in each programme?

MHCLG publishes information on the progress of remediating unsafe cladding across the different programmes. As at the end of August 2026 there were:

• 516 buildings in the ACM programme
• 640 buildings in the BSF
• 1,497 eligible buildings in the CSS
• 2,679 buildings identified as requiring remediation under the developer remediation contract
• 708 social buildings identified with unsafe cladding where registered providers are self-funding the remediation

The sum of the buildings across the five programmes will differ from the figures provided earlier in this briefing on the total identified number of unique buildings with unsafe cladding. This is because some buildings appear in more than one remediation programme.

Remediation progress of each scheme

The ACM programme had the highest proportion of buildings with complete remediation with 93% (478) of buildings reporting as having completed remediation or have completed works and awaiting building control signoff at the end of August 2026. The CSS programme had the lowest proportion with 9% (139) of buildings with completed remediation.

The difference in progress between the programmes reflects the length of time the programme has been operating. For example, the ACM programme was launched in 2018/19, while CSS was launched in July 2023.

^{Source: MHCLG, Building Safety Remediation: monthly data release - August 2026, 30 September 2026, Building Safety Remediation management information tables, tables ACM_2, BSF_1, CSS_3, Developer_1 & Social_1}

Buildings with ACM cladding

In phase 1 of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, it was reported that the “principal reason why the flames spread so rapidly up, down and around the building” was the presence of combustible aluminium composite material (ACM) cladding, “which acted as a source of fuel”.

The ACM cladding programme, launched in 2018/19, was the first of the five government programmes for cladding remediation (see section above). The programme offered grant funding to support remediation of buildings 18 metres and over with ACM cladding.

Number of identified buildings with ACM cladding

The MHCLG statistics provide a breakdown of the remediation progress of high-rise (18 metres and over) residential buildings (including student accommodation and hotels) and publicly owned buildings with ACM cladding systems unlikely to meet building regulations in the ACM programme.

The total number of buildings with ACM cladding systems in the programme increased from 428 at the end of 2019 to 516 at 27 August 2026.

48% (249) of the buildings in the ACM programme were private buildings and 32% (165) were social buildings. The remaining 20% was made up of 61 student accommodation buildings, 8 publicly owned buildings and 33 hotels.

503 buildings (97% of all buildings) have started or completed ACM remediation. Of these, 490 buildings (95% of all buildings) have removed ACM cladding.

There are 13 buildings yet to start ACM remediation (3% of all buildings). MHCLG has reported that two buildings are vacant so do not pose a risk to resident safety.

Further information

Further information on cladding remediation can be found in the following Commons Library briefings:

• Building safety remediation of residential buildings
• The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill 2026-27
• Remediating cladding on blocks of flats under 11 metres

MHCLG publishes monthly statistics the remediation progress of residential buildings over 11 metres with unsafe cladding in England on gov.uk.