The Residential Freehold Association (RFA), an alliance of professional freeholders in the UK, collectively representing professional, institutional freeholders, has welcomed the launch of a new pilot scheme that will provide funding for the remediation of unsafe medium-rise buildings, but says more is needed from the government.

This pilot for the medium-rise scheme (11-18m) will provide funding for the remediation or mitigation of the fire safety risks linked to unsafe external wall systems on medium-rise buildings where a responsible developer cannot be identified.

Mick Platt, director of the RFA, said: “While this is an important step, the quickest way to fix the building safety crisis is for government to acknowledge its part in the regulatory failure which led to it, and to make funding available immediately to cover all fire safety risks.

“That funding should then be made accessible to those charged with fixing the problem – often freeholders who otherwise simply don’t have the funds to fix buildings they never designed nor constructed.

“Longer term, the government should then recoup the cost of this funding through the “polluter pays” principle – meaning that developers and cladding manufactures ultimately pay to fix the building issues they caused.”