New Cladding Funding for Buildings Under 11 Metres: What RMC and RTM Directors Need to Know

On 17 August 2026 the government updated its guidance confirming new funding for the remediation of unsafe cladding on residential buildings under 11 metres in England. For directors of RTM companies, Resident Management Companies and freehold companies, this is the first time a national cladding funding route has been opened to buildings of this height - and the application window is short.

This article explains what has actually changed, which buildings may potentially qualify, what a FRAEW is and why nothing can be submitted without one, who is allowed to apply, and what practical steps directors and leaseholders should take before Friday 9 October 2026. It is based on the official GOV.UK and Homes England guidance rather than commentary, and it deliberately avoids telling you whether your building qualifies - only Homes England can decide that.

1. What has changed?

Building height has long been a dividing line in cladding remediation funding. The Cladding Safety Scheme, administered by Homes England, has historically been aimed at buildings over 11 metres, leaving owners and residents of lower-rise blocks with an external wall problem but no national funding route.

The government has now expanded the Cladding Safety Scheme by introducing new funding, delivered by Homes England, to support the remediation of unsafe cladding for multi-occupied residential buildings under 11 metres in England. The guidance states that this meets a commitment set out in the Remediation Acceleration Plan update of July 2025, and that it reflects a risk-based approach: buildings are prioritised according to cladding fire safety risk, with support focused first on buildings assessed as presenting a high life-critical cladding fire safety risk.

In short, the height threshold has been removed for this fund - but height was never the only test, and removing it does not make every low-rise block with cladding eligible. The fund is targeted, and the guidance is explicit that it is not a commitment to fund all medium or high-risk buildings under 11 metres.

2. Which buildings may potentially qualify?

The guidance sets out the framework below. Treat it as a prompt for the questions your building needs to answer, not as an eligibility calculator - the decision on eligibility rests with Homes England.

• The building is in England. The fund applies to England only.
• It is a multi-occupied residential building under 11 metres in height.
• It contains two or more dwellings.
• There is unsafe cladding, meaning an external wall system where a risk to life from fire spread has been identified through a PAS 9980:2022 compliant assessment, and that risk is assessed as not tolerable without mitigation or remediation.
• A FRAEW is available and can be submitted with the application. A Fire Risk Assessment should also be provided where available.
• The application is made by the responsible entity, or an authorised representative acting for it.
• Works did not start on the building before 9 July 2026 - see the retrospective funding position below.
• The application is submitted through the Building Remediation Hub before the window closes on 9 October 2026.

Funding is tenure neutral: both privately owned and social housing buildings can apply where they meet the funding criteria. Beyond the points specific to this fund, the same Cladding Safety Scheme requirements apply in relation to eligibility, scope of works and funding conditions, including the scope of eligible and ineligible costs.

3. What does 'unsafe cladding' mean here?

This fund uses a specific definition. References to 'unsafe cladding' should be understood as referring to an external wall system where a risk to life from fire spread has been identified through a PAS 9980:2022 compliant assessment, and where that risk is assessed as not tolerable without mitigation or remediation.

Two points follow from that wording. First, the concern is the external wall system as a whole, not simply the visible panels - the funding is available to address life safety fire risks associated with cladding and external wall systems as identified through a FRAEW. Second, the judgement is a professional one made through a recognised methodology. A building does not become eligible because residents, directors or a managing agent believe the cladding looks like a risk; it becomes potentially eligible because a competent assessor, applying PAS 9980:2022, has identified a risk to life that is not tolerable without mitigation or remediation.

4. What is a FRAEW, and why does it matter so much?

FRAEW stands for Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls. It is a specialist appraisal of the external wall construction of a block of flats, carried out by a suitably competent professional using the PAS 9980:2022 methodology, to assess the risk to life from fire spread across or within the external walls and to inform what, if anything, should be done about it.

For this fund the FRAEW is not optional supporting paperwork. The guidance is clear that an application cannot be submitted without a FRAEW and, where available, an FRA. Homes England will also review and audit all FRAEWs submitted under this fund - whether the building is assessed as high risk or medium (action required) risk - in line with existing Cladding Safety Scheme processes and PAS 9980:2022 methodology, to confirm that the proposed cladding remediation works are necessary and proportionate.

That review process has a practical consequence. The quality and competence of the appraisal matters. If your building has an older external wall assessment that predates PAS 9980:2022, or a report that was never intended as a FRAEW, it is worth establishing with the author or another competent professional whether it is suitable for a funding application before relying on it.

5. Who submits the application?

Applications must be submitted by the responsible entity or their authorised representative. Leaseholders and residents cannot apply directly.

For a leasehold block, the responsible entity is the organisation that holds responsibility for the building's external walls and their remediation. Depending on the structure of the building, that may be a freeholder, a head lessee, an RMC, an RTM company or a share-of-freehold company. It cannot be assumed that an RTM or Resident Management Company is automatically the responsible entity for this purpose: it depends on the arrangements for the particular building. If there is any doubt, that question needs to be settled - with legal advice where necessary - before an application is prepared, because the wrong applicant is a wasted application in a window this short.

A responsible entity can act through an authorised representative, which is how a managing agent or other professional adviser can prepare and submit the application on the entity's behalf. The underlying responsibility does not shift: responsible entities remain responsible for ensuring that their buildings are safe and that fire safety risks are appropriately identified, assessed and managed.

6. How will Homes England assess applications?

The guidance sets out several stages and qualifications that directors should understand before assuming an application will succeed:

• Funding is targeted. It is not a commitment to fund all medium or high-risk buildings under 11 metres.
• Funding is prioritised based on cladding fire safety risk. Buildings assessed as presenting a high cladding fire safety risk are taken forward first.
• For high-risk buildings, valid applications are progressed in the order received. All applications are date- and time-stamped at the point of submission, and that stamp determines position in the funding pipeline.
• Homes England will review and audit all FRAEWs to confirm that proposed cladding remediation works are necessary and proportionate.
• Responsible entities will be asked whether they have explored redress measures or alternative funding routes - such as insurance claims, developer contributions or warranty schemes - before funding is confirmed.
• Meeting the fund requirements does not create any entitlement to funding. All decisions remain subject to prioritisation and the availability of funding.

The redress point is worth planning for rather than answering on the day. If there is a live warranty, an unresolved developer liability or an insurance route that has never been tested, gather what you have on it now.

7. What if remediation work has already started?

The guidance states the position on retrospective funding plainly: if works started on your building before 9 July 2026, then you are not eligible.

That is the whole of the published rule, and we will not speculate beyond it. Where a building is part-way through a programme, or where preparatory activity took place around that date, the start date and what constitutes the start of works are questions to establish from your own records and to raise with Homes England through the Cladding Safety Scheme support contact rather than to assume either way.

8. What should RMC and RTM directors do now?

Nothing here should displace urgent safety action. If your fire risk assessment or FRAEW identifies interim measures, those measures remain your responsibility regardless of any funding application. With that said, a practical sequence for the next few weeks:

1. Establish, in writing, who the responsible entity is for your building's external walls. Do not assume it is the RTM or RMC company.
2. Locate the current Fire Risk Assessment, any FRAEW or external wall assessment, and any surveys, specifications or intrusive investigation reports.
3. Check whether the existing external wall assessment is a PAS 9980:2022 compliant FRAEW and whether it is suitable to support an application. If it is not, take advice from a competent fire safety professional on what is needed and how long it will take.
4. Establish whether any remediation works have started on the building and when, and record the evidence for those dates.
5. Identify any redress or alternative funding routes - developer, warranty provider, insurer - and gather the paperwork on each.
6. Read the application requirements on the Cladding Safety Scheme Building Remediation Hub in full before preparing anything, and note that no pre-registration is available.
7. Take appropriate professional advice - fire engineering, surveying, legal - where the position is unclear. Directors are not expected to resolve technical questions themselves.
8. Keep leaseholders informed about what is being assessed and what is not yet known.
9. Do not commit expenditure, or plan a service charge budget or reserve fund strategy, on the assumption that funding has been approved. It is not approved until Homes England confirms it.

9. What should leaseholders and residents do?

Leaseholders and residents cannot submit a funding application. The guidance asks them to contact their responsible entity in the first instance - normally the freeholder, RMC, RTM company or the managing agent acting for them. Sensible questions are whether the external walls have been appraised, whether there is a FRAEW, and whether an application to the fund is being considered or prepared before the 9 October 2026 deadline.

Where residents and leaseholders face difficulties engaging with their responsible entity, Homes England provides a 'Tell us Tool'. It is not an application. It notifies Homes England about the building, and Homes England will follow up with the responsible entity to help ensure an application can be submitted if required. Leaseholders and residents can also use the tool to provide additional information about their building, including estimates of cladding remediation costs and the impacts on residents. The Leasehold Advisory Service provides free independent advice to leaseholders, including on issues relating to unsafe cladding.

10. What East Valley can and cannot do

Where we are engaged as managing agent, we can coordinate the practical block-management side of this: identifying and organising the building's fire safety documentation, helping directors establish who the responsible entity is so they can take advice on it, procuring and instructing suitably competent fire safety professionals, handling resident communication, and administering the process and any resulting works alongside the specialists.

We do not determine eligibility, approve funding, carry out FRAEWs or PAS 9980:2022 assessments, act as fire engineers, give legal advice, or set remediation scope independently of competent specialists. Funding decisions are made by Homes England alone, and contacting us is not how a building applies for government funding.

This article provides general information based on government guidance available at the date of publication. It is not legal, fire-engineering or funding advice. Eligibility and remediation requirements depend on the circumstances of the individual building. Responsible entities should refer to current Homes England guidance and obtain appropriate professional advice where required.