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Welcome to our Building Safety newsletter - designed to keep you regularly informed on the progress of the Building Safety Programme and fire safety matters affecting the people of Wales.
You can also follow us on X / Twitter using @WGCommunities
 On 11 September 2024, I was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Housing and Local Government. I was pleased to join the Building Safety Strategic Stakeholder Group in October and hear directly from members on the priorities of the programme.
I have since met with Developers, Managing Agents and the Welsh Cladiators, taking the opportunity to reinforce my ambition for remediation to progress at pace and to offer the support of Welsh Government to leaseholders and unlock barriers to progress.
In November, I updated members in the Senedd on the progress made to address the fire safety of buildings in Wales. My full statement can be accessed here: Oral Statement: Building safety (12 November 2024) | GOV.WALES
All residential medium and high-rise buildings (11 metres and over) in Wales have a route to remediation and we continue to encourage leaseholders to make sure their Responsible Person (usually the Managing Agent) has submitted an Expression of Interest to the Welsh Government. This is the starting point for fire safety related surveys to be carried out. Details of how to do this, including a guidance document can be found here: Welsh Building Safety Fund | GOV.WALES
We are pleased to welcome Firntec Ltd and Part B Group alongside PRP Ltd and FireRite Ltd to undertake surveys and develop schedules of works for our orphan and smaller developer buildings. The addition of these two contractors has significantly expanded capacity for the assessment and planning elements of the process.
Remediation Programme Data
There are currently 433 buildings in the Welsh Building Safety Programme. Of the 433 buildings, 252 are private tenure buildings and 181 social buildings.
Work has completed (subject to final sign off) on 83 buildings. Work has started on 102 buildings. Plans are in development for a further 206 buildings. We have been informed that 7 buildings do not require any fire safety works.
We are working with the remaining 35 buildings to identify any remediation needs.
These figures are subject to change as further buildings are identified, and more information is gathered.
Smaller Developer and Orphan Buildings
Our work on orphan buildings (buildings where the developer is unknown, has ceased trading or the building was developed over 30 years ago) is progressing at pace. There are currently 77 buildings in the programme categorised as ‘orphan’.
Welsh Government is funding the initial intrusive external and internal fire safety surveys required, after which, detailed schedules of works will be produced. The fire safety works required for each orphan buildings are also funded by Welsh Government.
The process is the same for identifying and scoping the fire safety work required in buildings constructed by smaller developers. There are currently 24 buildings in the programme categorised as ‘smaller developer’.
Smaller developers can choose to fund and undertake the fire safety works themselves or they can request funding from Welsh Government, where they will undergo a financial assessment to determine a contribution.
Schedules of Works (which are carried out following the initial fire safety surveys) have been completed or are underway on 88 of the 101 buildings.
Developer Performance
We are pleased to be able to provide an update on the progress being made by larger developers who have signed the contract with Welsh Government and have committed to undertake the fire safety works they are responsible for.
The table below gives the total number of buildings for each developer. Please note: Westmark has not signed the developer contract, however does report to Welsh Government on progress in line with the contract requirements.
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Developer
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Total Number of Buildings
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Barratt
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20
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Bellway
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22
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Crest Nicholson
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3
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Lovell
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5
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McCarthy Stone
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2
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Persimmon
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38
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Redrow
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12
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Taylor Wimpey
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26
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Vistry and Countryside
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2
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Watkin Jones
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6
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Lendlease
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13
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WestMark
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2
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The graph below shows the number of buildings at each of the various stages of progress for each developer. To ensure consistency of reporting for all buildings in the programme, the following descriptors are used when determining the stage of progress:
- Works completed: All necessary fire safety works have been completed
- Plans in Place – Works Started: Fire safety works have started
- Plans in place – Works not Started: All required surveys are complete. Pre-construction activities underway such as detailed design, negotiating access licenses, tendering / negotiating contracts and planning permissions
- Plans in place – waiting surveys: The required surveys have been commissioned and/or scheduled, or they are complete and awaiting final reports
- No plans in place / Works not started: Building has been recognised as in scope for the programme, however no surveys or investigations have been undertaken to date – this may be due to lack of engagement for example
Figure 1 – Developer progress
 UK Government Remediation Acceleration Plan
In response to the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report and the National Audit Office Report, on 2 December 2024 the UK Government announced their Remediation Acceleration Plan. The plan set out 3 main objectives;
- Fix buildings faster
- Identify all buildings with unsafe cladding
- Support residents, including leaseholders, facing crippling bills and other difficulties while they wait for remediation to take place
This plan applies to England only. The full plan can be found here: Remediation Acceleration Plan - GOV.UK
We are carefully considering the detail of the acceleration plan but our initial view is that we are aligned with, if not ahead of, the work set out in the UK Government Remediation Acceleration Plan. The Building Safety Programme in Wales looks at both internal and external fire safety risks so is broader than – and not directly comparable to – the English approach, which is focussed on buildings with unsafe cladding.
Welsh Government is carefully considering the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 report.
We remain steadfast in our approach to ensure that all fire safety risks in buildings in Wales are remediated to required standards, as quickly as possible.
The Building Safety (Wales) Bill is scheduled for introduction in Summer 2025. The Bill will establish a new regime in Wales covering the occupation and ongoing management of multi-occupied residential buildings.
The Bill will introduce new fire safety duties that will be developed for residential buildings and residential parts of mixed-use buildings.
All in-scope buildings will be required to be registered by the Principal Accountable Person, with the building safety authority. The proposals will put in place statutory duties to assess and manage building safety risks on the Accountable Person.
Webinars and Workstreams
In November, we held a series of webinars with a range of stakeholders to provide an outline of the policy underpinning the proposed Bill. We had good engagement across the sessions, and we are intending to hold further sessions with Welsh Government Design and Construction officials next year.
To support implementation of the Bill, we have established workstreams with local authorities to carefully consider the cost and resourcing implications that the new building safety occupation phase regime will have for them. In November, we met with local authorities to discuss the skills, expertise and resources required within the new regime.
Publication of Research Report – Fire Safety in multi-occupied buildings
We commissioned independent researchers to engage with residents living in multi-occupied residential buildings in both the social and private sector.
The key objectives were to explore residents’ knowledge, understanding and behaviour towards fire safety and how they engage with their building managers. This was to understand the most effective ways of communicating fire safety messages to residents.
The findings reinforce the importance of placing residents at the heart of our proposals. We encourage you to read the full report of this engagement work, which can be found here - Fire safety in multi-occupied buildings: residents research | GOV.WALES
Joint Inspection Team (JIT)
The Joint Inspection Team (JIT) has undertaken its first inspections in Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham and a process to prioritise buildings for inspection next year has been agreed.
Further information on the JIT can be found on its website:
www.jit.wales; or www.jit.cymru, e-mail info@jit.wales
As part of implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, we will be setting new rules about how managing agents and freeholders should be paid for insurance related activities.
On 2 December, the UK Government’s Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government published a consultation on permitted insurance fees for landlords, freeholders and property managing agents. This consultation is being undertaken jointly, with views being sought for both England and Wales.
The consultation will allow us to properly consider replacing existing commission structures with a transparent and fair permitted insurance fee, reflective of the work undertaken by landlords, freeholders and managing agents. It will also inform secondary legislation which is required to bring these measures into effect.
This 12-week consultation will run from 2 December 2024 to 24 February 2025. We very much welcome all views and contributions: this is a public consultation, and we would be grateful if you could forward this message to others who may have an interest.
Whilst this is not directly a fire safety issue, we recognise the consultation will be of interest to many of our subscribers.
We have been working collaboratively with Propertymark to produce a Building Safety Factsheet for Wales.
The Factsheet provides key aspects of both Building Safety Reform and Remediation in Wales, and specifically the differences in the law from England.
We are pleased to attach the factsheet for your information.
Fact sheet: Building Safety | Propertymark
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A consultation on the second phase of the new building control regime in Wales will be launched in the first quarter of 2025.
The consultation will cover several topics, including the following:
- Dutyholder roles (Principal Designer, Principal Contractor, Client, Designer and Contractor)
- Gateways (hard stops in the design & construction process)
- Golden thread of information
- Mandatory occurrence reporting (in the design & construction phase)
- Compliance and Stop notices
The consultation will be available online and in printed format and is an opportunity for stakeholders to make their views known.
The Welsh Government strongly recommends participation by all interested parties.
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