---
title: "Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill: What It Means for Leaseholders and Resident Directors"
url: https://manage.management/blog/remediation-of-unsafe-cladding-bill-what-it-means-for-leaseholders-and-resident-directors
description: "The Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill explained: the duty to fix cladding, deadlines, £500,000 fines, who pays and what RMC and RTM directors should do."
author: "Franklin Baeza"
published: 2026-11-01T06:33:58.000Z
updated: 2026-11-01T07:36:56Z
categories: ["Maintenance & Safety","Governance & Compliance"]
publisher: Manage.Management
language: en-GB
---

# Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill: What It Means for Leaseholders and Resident Directors

The Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill explained: the duty to fix cladding, deadlines, £500,000 fines, who pays and what RMC and RTM directors should do.

The Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding etc) Bill would create a legal duty for whoever is responsible for repairing a residential block over 11 metres or 5 storeys to assess its external walls, publish a plan and fix any life-critical cladding risks, backed by fines of up to £500,000 and criminal penalties. It was introduced on 14 October 2026 and passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 27 October 2026, when the government also announced wider help for leaseholders currently outside the Building Safety Act protections. It is not yet law. The duties would start two months after Royal Assent.

For most leaseholders the headline is reassuring: the government says remediation under the new duty is funded, so qualifying leaseholders should not pay for it. For resident directors, the story is more demanding. Right to Manage (RTM) companies and residents' management companies (RMCs) can be "responsible entities", which means a volunteer board could hold the new duty. This guide explains what the Bill does, who it affects and what to do before it passes.

> This article is general information about leasehold buildings in England, not legal advice. The Bill may change as it passes through Parliament, so check the current text before relying on any detail.

## Key takeaways

- The Bill applies to multi-occupied residential buildings in England over 11 metres or at least 5 storeys, completed before 28 June 2022, unless they are covered by the Developer Remediation Contract.
- The duty falls on the "responsible entity", the party with the relevant repairing obligation. That can be a freeholder, a head leaseholder, an RTM company or an RMC.
- Responsible entities would have 12 months from Royal Assent to assess external walls using PAS 9980, and 15 months to publish a Remediation Compliance Plan where work is needed.
- Deliberate failure to remediate could mean up to 2 years in prison or a financial penalty of up to £500,000, with a reasonable-excuse defence for delays outside the entity's control.
- The government says leaseholders should not pay for remediation under the duty, and freeholders cannot pass penalty costs to leaseholders.
- On 27 October 2026 the government also proposed help for collectively owned and enfranchised buildings and raising the non-cladding protection limit from three properties to six.

## What is the Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill?

It is a government Bill to make sure every residential building over 11 metres with unsafe cladding gets fixed, and to give regulators the power to act where owners stall. The [government's guide to the Bill](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-the-building-safety-remediation-of-unsafe-cladding-etc-bill/guide-to-the-building-safety-remediation-of-unsafe-cladding-etc-bill) says it aims to create certainty about which buildings need work and to what standard, hold "the worst blockers to account", make product manufacturers contribute, and ensure "no building is left behind".

The scale is significant. According to the [House of Commons Library's cladding remediation statistics](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-12248/), 4,724 residential buildings of 11 metres or more had been identified with unsafe cladding by the end of August 2026, and 2,716 of them had not yet completed remediation.

The Bill, [Bill 155 of the 2026-27 session](https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/4305), is in seven parts, summarised in the [Commons Library briefing on the Bill](https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-12249/):

| Part | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| 1. Duty to remediate | New duties to assess, mitigate and remediate life-critical external wall risks, plus enforcement and the Remediation Management Order backstop |
| 2. Medium-rise register | A mandatory register for buildings of 11 to 18 metres or 5 to 7 storeys |
| 3. Ownership information | Powers for regulators to find out who owns and controls buildings over 11 metres, including beneficial owners |
| 4. Duty to cooperate | Local authorities, fire and rescue authorities and the Building Safety Regulator must work together on enforcement |
| 5. Cladding product liability | Stronger retrospective liability for construction product manufacturers |
| 6. Amendments | Changes to the Building Safety Act 2022, the Fire Safety Order 2005 and the Housing Act 2004 |
| 7. General provisions | Including leaseholder protections |

## Which buildings and who is responsible?

The duty applies to multi-occupied residential buildings in England that are over 11 metres or have at least 5 storeys and were completed before 28 June 2022. It covers private and social housing, including enfranchised and commonhold buildings. Buildings already covered by the Developer Remediation Contract are excluded, because developers have signed up to equivalent obligations.

The duty falls on the "responsible entity": the party with the relevant repairing obligation for the building. The government's guide lists freeholders, leaseholders under a head lease or sub-lease, RTM companies and RMCs. This mirrors the approach of the Building Safety Act, which we explain in our guide to [accountable persons for RMC and RTM directors](https://manage.management/blog/building-safety-act-accountable-persons-what-rmc-and-rtm-directors-are-responsible-for). If your RTM company has taken over the landlord's repairing obligations, it is likely to be the responsible entity.

## What would responsible entities have to do?

The Bill sets a clear sequence, with deadlines running from Royal Assent:

1. **Assess the external walls.** Commission a fire risk appraisal of external walls (FRAEW) using the PAS 9980 methodology, within 12 months of Royal Assent. Failing to do so without reasonable excuse would be a criminal offence.
2. **Put interim measures in place where needed.** Measures such as waking watches must be used where recommended, but the guide is clear they are temporary and not a long-term alternative to permanent work.
3. **Publish a Remediation Compliance Plan.** Where the FRAEW recommends work, publish a plan within 15 months of Royal Assent setting out the steps and timetable. For companies, it must name the director responsible for compliance and give details of beneficial owners and the wider corporate group. It must be published on the entity's website and proactively shared with residents and leaseholders.
4. **Carry out the work as soon as reasonably practicable.** Permanently remediate in line with the FRAEW recommendations, so any interim measures can be stood down.

Missing the plan deadline would trigger financial penalties that keep accruing until the plan is produced. Deliberate failure to mitigate or remediate could lead to prosecution and up to 2 years in prison, or a penalty of up to £500,000.

The policy targets behind the deadlines come from the [Remediation Acceleration Plan update of July 2025](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/remediation-acceleration-plan-update-july-2025/remediation-acceleration-plan-update-july-2025): by the end of 2029, every 18-metre-plus building in a government-funded scheme should be remediated, and every 11-metre-plus building with unsafe cladding should be remediated, have a completion date, or face penalties.

## What happens if the responsible entity will not act?

The Bill creates a "Remediation Backstop". Where a regulator believes there is "no realistic path to remediation by the current duty-holder", it can refer the building to the local authority or Homes England. That remediation authority must serve a remediation notice giving the duty-holder 3 months to show what it has done and to argue against intervention.

If it proceeds, the authority applies to the First-tier Tribunal for a Remediation Management Order. If granted, the authority can take over the duty-holder's functions for the external walls, including entering contracts and gaining access, and in some cases manage the building day to day. Leaseholders are notified and can make representations. Importantly, it is the authority, not leaseholders, that applies for the order.

## Will leaseholders have to pay?

For cladding work under the new duty, the government's answer is no. Its guide states that "there is government funding in place for all work required by the legal duty to remediate", so leaseholders should not pay towards it. It also says freeholders "will not be able to pass on penalty costs to leaseholders", and that the cost of producing the Remediation Compliance Plan cannot be passed on to qualifying leaseholders.

This sits on top of the existing protections in [Schedule 8 to the Building Safety Act 2022](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/30/schedule/8). Under those, qualifying leaseholders in buildings over 11 metres or 5 storeys pay nothing towards cladding remediation, and their share of other historical safety defects is capped and spread over 10 years. [GOV.UK's leaseholder protections guidance](https://www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-leaseholder-protections-guidance-for-leaseholders) adds that leaseholders whose flat was worth less than £325,000 in Greater London or £175,000 elsewhere pay nothing for historical defects at all.

One cost will reach the service charge. If the medium-rise register goes ahead, the government's guide says registration charges and compliance costs will be recoverable from leaseholders, though it expects them to be significantly lower than the higher-risk building regime. The register is expected roughly 8 to 10 months after Royal Assent, once regulations are made.

## What else did the government announce on 27 October?

During the second reading, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner and Building Safety Minister Baroness Blake of Leeds [announced three proposals](https://www.gov.uk/government/news/more-people-protected-as-government-acts-to-make-more-homes-safe) to close gaps in the current protections:

- **Collectively owned and enfranchised buildings.** Where leaseholders own the freehold, there is no separate landlord to pay, so they fall outside the Building Safety Act protections and can face some of the largest bills. New government funding will help with internal high-risk and high-cost fire safety defects.
- **Multiple-property owners.** The limit for protection on non-cladding defects would rise from three properties to six, covering people who owned four to six properties on 14 February 2022.
- **Later buyers.** The government is exploring how to help people who bought a flat as their only home but are unprotected because of a previous owner's circumstances on the qualifying date.

Manufacturers connected to historic unsafe cladding and insulation products will also be made to contribute, with new powers to recover money "at scale". The government says details on eligibility, funding and the manufacturer scheme will follow as the Bill progresses.

## What should RMC and RTM directors do now?

Directors of a building over 11 metres should prepare now, because the 12-month assessment clock will start at Royal Assent.

1. **Check whether you are likely to be the responsible entity.** Review the lease and any RTM acquisition, and identify who holds the repairing obligation for the structure and external walls.
2. **Find your existing FRAEW.** If you already have one, check whether it follows PAS 9980 and what it recommended. If not, get quotes so you are ready.
3. **Check funding routes.** Find out whether the building is in, or eligible for, the Cladding Safety Scheme, the Building Safety Fund or a developer's remediation commitment.
4. **Gather leaseholder certificates.** Make sure the freeholder or company holds leaseholder deeds of certificate, so you know which leases qualify for protection.
5. **Plan the communications.** The compliance plan must be shared with residents, so set up a simple way to publish it and keep it updated. Our guide to [common leasehold property problems](https://manage.management/blog/leasehold-property-problems-how-to-resolve-the-most-common) covers how to handle disputes early.
6. **Track the Bill.** Follow its committee stage and watch for the statutory guidance on how regulators will treat leaseholder-controlled companies.

If you are new to running a building, our [plain guide to residents' management companies](https://manage.management/blog/residents-management-company-a-plain-guide-for-flat-owners) and our guide to [what happens after you win the right to manage](https://manage.management/blog/right-to-manage-what-happens-after-you-win) explain the wider responsibilities.

## How Manage.Management helps

Manage.Management gives resident-led buildings one place to hold fire safety evidence, from the FRAEW and funding correspondence to leaseholder certificates. Directors can publish documents such as a Remediation Compliance Plan to every leaseholder, track each recommended action to completion with dates and owners, and show residents exactly where the money is being spent through transparent [service charge](https://manage.management/blog/what-is-a-service-charge-a-complete-guide-for-flat-owners) records.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is the Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill law yet?

No. It was introduced on 14 October 2026 and had its second reading on 27 October 2026. It must complete its remaining stages in both Houses and receive Royal Assent. The core duties would start two months after that.

### Could our RTM company be fined up to £500,000?

In principle, an RTM company can be a responsible entity. But the government's guide says the Bill is meant "to drive action where responsible entities are failing to remediate", not to penalise those making genuine efforts. Regulators must consider statutory guidance before fining a leaseholder-controlled company, and delays outside your control can be a reasonable excuse.

### Our block is under 11 metres. Does the Bill apply?

No. The duty to remediate applies to buildings over 11 metres or with at least 5 storeys. Separate fire safety duties under the Fire Safety Order still apply to the common parts of smaller blocks.

### Will I pay more service charge because of the Bill?

Not for cladding remediation under the duty, which the government says is funded. You may see a small charge for the medium-rise register if your building is 11 to 18 metres, and normal fire safety management costs may still be recoverable under your lease.

### We own our freehold collectively. Are we now protected?

Not yet. The government has announced new funding for internal high-risk and high-cost fire safety defects in collectively owned and enfranchised buildings, but the eligibility and funding details have not been published. Keep records of any defects and costs so you are ready to apply.

## Fixing buildings is finally becoming a duty

For years, whether unsafe cladding was fixed depended on whether the owner chose to act. This Bill would make it a legal duty with deadlines, published plans and real consequences, while keeping the cost away from qualifying leaseholders. Resident directors who get their evidence and funding routes in order now will be ready when the clock starts.

Last reviewed: 1 November 2026 by Franklin Baeza, Manage.Management. This article is general information for England and Wales, not legal advice. Check the current position with a qualified adviser before acting.

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Source: [Remediation of Unsafe Cladding Bill: What It Means for Leaseholders and Resident Directors](https://manage.management/blog/remediation-of-unsafe-cladding-bill-what-it-means-for-leaseholders-and-resident-directors) on the Manage.Management blog.