If you are a freeholder, head leaseholder, managing agent, housing association or Right to Manage Company responsible for a residential building over 11 metres from ground floor to top floor level, the Cladding Safety Scheme (CSS) is the route through which government funding is made available to address life safety fire risks associated with cladding. Getting the Cladding Safety Scheme application right, and then delivering the cladding remediation works, takes the right technical expertise from day one. 

What is the Cladding Safety Scheme? 

The Cladding Safety Scheme, administered by Homes England, meets the cost of eligible cladding remediation works on residential buildings over 11 metres from ground floor to top floor level in England. 

It replaced the Building Safety Fund as the primary route for government remediation funding, and since 1 September 2025, all new applications must be submitted through the CSS via the Building Remediation Hub.Following the June 2025 spending review, over £1 billion of additional investment brought social housing providers onto an equal footing with private building owners, meaning the scheme now supports remediation on social rented homes, affordable rented homes and shared ownership units on the same basis as leasehold units. 

The CSS sits within the wider framework of the Building Safety Act 2022, which protects qualifying leaseholders from the cost of works to remove cladding and external wall systems that pose a risk to life. 

Who is eligible for the Cladding Safety Scheme? 

Eligibility comes down to the building, the applicant and the risk assessment: 

• Building type: multi-occupancy residential, or mixed use residential and commercial buildings over 11 metres from ground floor to top floor level. This includes both mid-rise and high-rise residential buildings in the private and social housing sectors. The diagram below helps illustrate this. The scheme does not, however, cover buildings where works started on site before 10 January 2022, or social sector housing units where works contracts were signed before 11 June 2025 (unless funding was agreed prior to that date). Non-residential buildings are also excluded, including hotels, hospitals, offices, and buildings without residential leaseholders or affordable housing tenants, which typically captures purpose-built student accommodation and build to rent schemes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       
• The applicant: applications must be made by the Responsible Entity, or an authorised representative. This is typically the freeholder, head leaseholder, a registered provider of social housing, a management company, or a Right to Manage Company with primary responsibility for the building’s external repair 

• A mandatory FRAEW: a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall construction (FRAEW), following PAS 9980:2022 methodology and carried out by a firm on the CSS panel, is required to support every application 

• Developer Remediation Contract: buildings developed or refurbished by a signatory of the Developer Remediation Contract within the 30 years ending 4 April 2022 are not eligible. In those cases, the original developer is expected to fund the works 

Leaseholders cannot apply directly (unless acting as head leaseholder), but they can, and should, encourage their landlord, freeholder or managing agent to register. 

 

What is a FRAEW, and why is it so important? 

The Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall (FRAEW) construction is the technical foundation of any CSS application. It sets out the life safety fire risks posed by the external wall system, benchmarks them against PAS 9980:2022, and proposes the works required to bring risk to a tolerable level. The quality of this assessment directly shapes what funding can be secured, what scope of cladding removal, cladding replacement or mitigation is signed off, and how smoothly the remediation progresses. 

A robust building surveying approach underpins everything that follows. Accurate measured building surveys, clear defect diagnosis, a proper understanding of the building fabric and its history, and close alignment with the FRAEW findings are essential to ensuring applications stand up to scrutiny and works are scoped correctly from the outset. For residential buildings over 18 metres, Homes England expects any unsafe ACM cladding identified to be removed and replaced, and this should be reflected in the FRAEW. 

 

What does the Cladding Safety Scheme cover? 

Funding is targeted specifically at life safety fire risks associated with cladding and the external wall system. Eligible costs typically include: 

• Cladding removal, cladding replacement, and mitigations such as sprinkler systems or smoke alarms where recommended in the FRAEW

• Access works directly related to the remediation, for example scaffolding and mast climbers 

• Replacement materials, labour, and reasonable contractor costs 

• Reimbursement of the FRAEW itself, where it meets eligibility requirements 

• Professional team fees and managing agents’ fees relating to eligible works 

The CSS does not fund general maintenance, redecoration, window replacement, building insurance premiums, or the ongoing operational costs of interim measures such as waking watch. The scheme is designed precisely to remove the need for those costly interim measures by accelerating permanent remediation. 

 

Delivering the works: what Homes England expects 

Securing funding is only half the story. Once a grant funding agreement is in place, Homes England expects: 

• A realistic but ambitious delivery timetable, with all changes reported 

• Regular communications to leaseholders and residents at every key milestones

• Adherence to the Considerate Constructors Scheme during works 

• Cost discipline, as all works costs are reviewed by Homes England’s cost consultants 

• Cost recovery from developers, warranty providers, insurers and others originally responsible, where applicants have the legal and practical ability to pursue it 

Moving seamlessly from FRAEW through application, design, tender, and on site delivery without handover gaps is what keeps projects on programme, protects the funding award, and minimises disruption for residents. 

 

Why AMR Consult 

For nearly 20 years, AMR Consult has specialised in simplifying the complex process of funding, planning and delivering capital projects. Our track record speaks to the exact skillset the Cladding Safety Scheme demands. 

• Government funded capital schemes. We have submitted over 450 Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) applications and secured more than £100 million of funding for clients. Navigating rigorous government application processes, eligibility criteria and technical scoring is core to what we do, and the same skills transfer directly to the CSS 

• RICS regulated building surveying. Our building surveying team delivers measured building surveys, defect diagnosis, contract administration, dilapidations and maintenance advice across residential, commercial, cultural and education sectors. This expertise is important to have at your disposal throughout the process 

• End to end project delivery. Our consultants act as Principal Designer (CDM 2015), Clerk of Works, contract administrator and project manager, giving clients a single, joined up team from application through to completion 

• A trusted contractor network. Over nearly two decades, we have built long standing working relationships with a wide range of contractors and specialists, including roofing contractors, modular building contractors, scaffolding and access specialists, façade contractors and fire safety consultants. That network means we can bring the right delivery partners to the table quickly, and hold them to the quality standards Homes England expects 

• Client centred by design. More than 80% of our business comes from repeat clients, which tells you everything about how we work alongside the responsible entities and managing agents who trust us with complex, high stakes projects 

 

What to do next 

If you think your building may be eligible for the Cladding Safety Scheme: 

• Check whether your building falls under the Developer Remediation Contract before applying 

• Confirm you are the Responsible Entity, or have authority to act on their behalf

• Begin gathering the information needed for an initial application on the Building Remediation Hub 

• Speak to an experienced consultant about procuring a FRAEW from a CSS panel member, and planning the works package that will follow 

At AMR, our CSS lead consultant Joe Parsons would be delighted to have a conversation about your building, your options, and how we can support you through each stage of the Cladding Safety Scheme process. 

📧 Joe.parsons@amrconsult.co.uk 📞 0207 871 3026