Cladding remediation backlog leaves 2,146 buildings waiting
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More than 2,100 residential buildings in England with identified unsafe cladding have yet to begin remediation, putting pressure on the construction industry to turn a growing pipeline of approved projects into work on site.
At the end of July 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government was monitoring 4,697 residential buildings of 11 metres or more with unsafe cladding. Of those, 1,833 had completed remediation and another 718 had work under way.
That leaves 2,146 buildings, or 46% of the total, where remediation has not started.
Progress is being made. The number of buildings where work had started or finished increased by 172 between June and July, while completions rose by 152. However, the number of buildings being monitored also increased by 228.
Government estimates suggest the final workload will be larger still. Around 1,100 to 2,600 buildings are expected to require remediation through government programmes but have not yet been confirmed as eligible.
For contractors and the wider building safety sector, these figures point to a change in the nature of the work ahead. The earliest remediation programmes are relatively mature. The harder task is moving thousands of buildings through assessment, design, procurement and construction.
The backlog is shifting towards newer remediation programmes
The figures show a clear difference between the older remediation schemes and the programmes now carrying much of the remaining workload.
Of the 516 high-rise buildings identified with unsafe aluminium composite material cladding, 478 had completed remediation by 30 July. In total, 502 had either started or completed work, leaving 14 yet to begin.
The Building Safety Fund is also well advanced. Of 639 high-rise buildings proceeding through the fund, 487 had completed remediation and another 75 had started work.
The position is different under the Cladding Safety Scheme, which covers residential buildings over 11 metres.
By the end of July, 1,438 buildings had been assessed as eligible for the scheme. Only 127 had completed remediation and 269 had started work. The remaining 1,042 eligible buildings had yet to begin construction.
There were also another 2,253 buildings at earlier stages of the scheme, including 1,352 undergoing eligibility checks and 901 at the pre-application stage.
Developer-led remediation presents a similar challenge.
Developers had reported unsafe cladding at 1,833 buildings. Of these, 862 had either started or completed remediation, including 566 completions. That leaves 971 where work had not started.
The figures suggest the remediation programme is entering a broader and more complex phase. Earlier work was heavily focused on known high-rise buildings and the most serious ACM risks. The current pipeline involves a wider mix of buildings, owners, developers and funding routes.
This also increases the number of parties involved before construction can begin.
The National Audit Office has previously warned that disputes between developers and freeholders over the scope of required works have caused delays. It has also highlighted uncertainty around the final number of buildings needing remediation and how long the wider programme will take.
A larger pipeline will test the industry’s delivery capacity
For the construction sector, the scale of the remaining programme represents a substantial volume of future work.
Remediation requires more than replacement cladding. Projects can involve fire engineers, facade specialists, designers, surveyors, access contractors, building control professionals and main contractors. Many schemes must also be completed while residents remain in their homes.
A large pipeline, however, does not mean projects will move quickly to site.
Before construction begins, buildings may need surveys, fire risk assessments, design development, funding approval and procurement. Responsibility for the work may also need to be agreed between developers, building owners and public bodies.
The industry’s ability to deliver the work is therefore only part of the issue. The rate at which projects become ready for construction will also matter.
The July figures show the size of that gap. There were 3,691 buildings at different stages of the Cladding Safety Scheme, but only 396 eligible buildings had started or completed remediation.
As more buildings move through assessment, contractors could face a growing flow of tenders and live projects. An uneven pipeline could also create capacity problems, particularly if large numbers of projects reach procurement at the same time.
Deadlines will increase the focus on work starting on site
The next phase of remediation will increasingly be judged by mobilisation and completion rather than the number of buildings entering government programmes.
That makes the 2,146 buildings currently waiting for work to start an important measure of progress.
There are signs that the overall programme is moving faster. In July alone, 152 more buildings were recorded as having completed remediation than in the previous month. However, new buildings continue to enter the programme, which means the remaining workload is not falling at the same rate.
The July data also shows why simple month-to-month comparisons need care. The government said the increase in monitored buildings was driven mainly by the inclusion of more self-funded social housing buildings as reporting through the National Remediation Database develops.
For the construction industry, the wider direction is clearer than any single monthly figure.
The oldest remediation programmes are moving towards completion, while a much larger group of buildings is progressing through newer schemes. Some are already eligible and waiting for construction. Thousands more remain at earlier stages.
Attention is now moving from the number of unsafe buildings identified to the speed at which they become active projects.
With more than 2,000 known buildings still waiting for remediation to start, the sector’s next test will be whether it can convert that pipeline into completed work at a sustained pace.
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