An Englishman’s home is his castle, but what happens when that castle is surrounded by £15bn of potentially unsafe cladding? That is the scale of the crisis we are looking at, with up to 1,700 buildings potentially requiring remediation over the next 10 years. It is a big problem, and one that the government is only just realising the full extent of.

The recent announcement of an additional £3.5bn for replacing dangerous cladding is clearly a positive step and, by any measure, a big commitment. But from a practical perspective, it perhaps raises more questions than answers at the moment. If cladding is found to be unsafe, what should go up in its place and will this be government mandated? Who should take responsibility for rectifying issues, from planning to ongoing fire maintenance, and what information is needed to access the funds? To date, it has been an extremely difficult and costly process, and these latest government measures will be only the start of resolving a much wider problem that has been brewing for years.

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