Britain’s inability to fix unsafe cladding in a timely manner is not so much down to lack of resources so much as bureaucratic bungling.
That is the view of software firm Property Inspect, which produces property inspection software.
Eight years on from the Grenfell Tower fire, the UK’s cladding remediation programme continues to falter. As of January 2025, of the 5,025 residential buildings over 11 metres that have been identified with unsafe cladding, only 1,482 (29%) have completed remediation.
An average of 62 buildings per month are being added to the remediation monitoring list and just 58 buildings per month are seeing remediation completed. The result is a widening backlog, not a shrinking one.
Property Inspect says that it is “uniquely positioned to observe how this crisis is unfolding in practice” as it has a platform that supports building inspections, compliance workflows and remediation reporting.
It says that delays are occurring not simply due to construction hold-ups, but because of systemic administrative and procedural bottlenecks. Remediation sign-offs are taking up to 48 weeks, even when physical work is completed, due to documentation errors, incomplete evidence submissions, or inconsistencies in file formats. Contractors are unable to transition to new projects, resulting in growing financial strain and disrupted schedules. And housing providers are caught between regulators and remediation teams, with little visibility over where or why delays are occurring.
Property Inspect says that common problems include:
- inconsistent photographic evidence
- documents without metadata or version control
- ambiguous remediation progress reports
- lack of coordination across responsible parties
- navigating opaque expectations.
“These issues are not technical challenges, they are structural inefficiencies. And until they are addressed, the backlog will continue to grow, no matter how much money is pledged,” it said.
It recommends three system-level reforms:
- Standardised, digitised evidence packs: all remediation projects must be supported by a universal submission template. This should include structured photographic evidence, contractor certifications, inspection reports, and metadata to verify authenticity and chronology.
- A national remediation tracker: there is no publicly accessible tool showing live status updates for each building; a digital, multi-stakeholder dashboard would reduce duplication, enable accountability, and eliminate informational blind spots.
- Funding linked to compliance standards and service level agreements.
Sián Hemming-Metcalfe, operations director at Property Inspect, said: “Thousands of people remain stranded in homes they cannot sell or access. Remediation firms are stuck waiting for sign-offs they cannot influence.
“What we are seeing, through every stage of inspection and reporting, is a process held back by systemic inefficiencies, not technical limitations. The remediation crisis cannot be solved through policy alone; it must be delivered through operational reform.”