Building Safety Fund – update on applications

The government has published guidance on applying for funding for the removal and replacement of unsafe non-ACM cladding systems through the Building Safety Fund.

There is a total of £1bn of funding available, and there are two separate processes to apply for funding, with specific guidance for each:

• Private sector building owners and social housing providers who have demonstrated that the costs of remediation are unaffordable or a threat to financial viability. As we have previously highlighted, to be eligible for this process, buildings must have been registered with MHCLG by 31 July. This includes cases where a housing association has an eligible building that is not owned by the registered provider arm of the organisation and should therefore be considered a private building.
• Social housing providers who wish to claim funding for costs that would otherwise be charged to leaseholders – this is for building owners whose remediation costs are not deemed unaffordable or a threat to financial viability.

We expect that the majority of our members will be applying through the second process, and we have provided further details on this claims process below. 

Further details on the claims process 

• Organisations can claim funding if they have a contractual obligation to carry out the works and the right to recover costs from leaseholders through service charges.
• There is a total of £1bn available, and once this has been allocated, any further claims will not be considered.
• Completed claims forms must be submitted by 31 December 2020, and contractors must be contracted and have started to deliver the work by 31 March 2021.
• There will be evidence requirements for each claim – we would encourage you to familiarise yourself with these so that work to prepare them does not delay your claim.
• While organisations that successfully claim will be expected to demonstrate that they have taken reasonable steps to recover costs from those responsible, you do not need to do this before you submit your claim.

The claims process has been developed to enable projects to be delivered at pace. We recognise, however, that there will still be challenges in claiming for funding and starting remedial works prior to the deadlines for each stage.

We welcome feedback from our members on the process of claiming costs and starting remedial works, to support our ongoing conversations with the government.