Ministers making 'painfully slow' cladding progress

The Scottish government has been accused of making "painfully slow" progress on removing unsafe cladding from buildings.

It came as ministers announced plans to speed up efforts to inspect and repair buildings in response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan announced that people with concerns about unsafe cladding would be able to apply to a £10m fund to have their building assessed.

But opposition MSPs criticised the government for failing to confirm a date when the work would be completed.

McLennan also defended the government's housebuilding record after it was announced the number of new homes built in Scotland last year slumped to less than 20,000, with completions by the social sector down by almost a quarter.

A cladding remediation programme was set up in the aftermath of the Grenfell tower block disaster in London, which claimed 72 lives.

However, ministers have been criticised for its slow progress.

As of November 2024 there were 107 entries on the programme – which can be either individual buildings or multiple properties in a development.

The government said in September that work had not been completed on any of the buildings, with work having started on just five.

UK government statistics for England showed that, as of September last year, remediation work on unsafe cladding had been started or completed on half of about 5,000 identified buildings, with work completed on almost a third (29%) of them.

In a statement to parliament, McLennan announced a "renewed plan of action" on cladding remediation alongside as the government published its response to the second phase of the Grenfell Inquiry.

He said the £10m fund would be open to properties owned by local authorities, registered social landlords and privately individuals.

"This investment is designed to reduce risk and the broadest range of properties as quick as possible," the minister said.

MSPs unanimously passed the Housing Cladding Remediation Bill in May last year in a bid to speed up the process.

It gave ministers the power to assess and carry out remediation on buildings with unsafe cladding - with any work then recorded in a special register.

But as of last year it was reported that only £9m out of £97m received from Westminster via Barnett consequentials to deal with the issue had been spent.

McLennan did not provide an update on the work done on the 107 earmarked properties, or how much of the UK government money had been spent.

Scottish Conservative housing spokesperson Meghan Gallacher said progress had been "painfully slow" in the eight years since the Grenfell disaster.

She said Scotland was "miles behind" the UK government in removing unsafe cladding south of the border, describing the announcement as a "kick in the teeth" to concerned residents.

Speaking after the statement, the MSP said: "Despite receiving nearly £100m from the UK government to fix the problem, work has only begun on five of 107 affected properties and Paul McLennan clearly has no clue when that work will be completed."

Labour housing spokesperson Mark Griffin said: "We're in a remarkable position where we've had more ministerial statements on cladding than we've had buildings remediated."

The Grenfell announcement came after the government faced criticism over the latest housebuilding figures.

Although SNP ministers declared a housing emergency in 2024, new figures show the number of homes built that year fell by 7% to 19,797.

The number of properties started dropped further, falling 9% from the 2023 total to 15,050.

Private housebuilders completed 15,066 new homes and started construction work on 11,617 – down 12%.

That meant 2024 had the lowest number of new homes started by private builders than any year since 2013 - with the exception of 2020, when the Covid pandemic impacted building works.

Social housing providers - such as councils and housing associations - built 4,731 homes in 2024 and started work on 3,433 properties.

While the number of properties started was up by 2% from 2023 the number of completions was down by 22%, and was the lowest since 2017.

The Scottish government has set the target of delivering 110,000 homes for affordable rent or purchase by 2032.

The data showed that by the end of December, 26,039 homes had been completed – meaning about 84,000 homes will have to be built by 2032 if the government is to achieve its target.

The Tories said ministers were "asleep at the wheel", while Labour accused them of "reckless incompetence".

McLennan said the government had a "strong track record" of building affordable housing.

He said that from 2007 - the year the SNP came to power - to 2024 more than 136,000 affordable homes had been delivered, including 97,000 for social rent.

The minister added that, as of March last year, that was 47% more affordable homes per head of population than England and 73% more than Wales.