The British government has given property developers two months to come up with £4 billion ($5.43bn) to pay for the removal of highly flammable cladding from homes — or risk legal action.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove outlined the plan in a stern letter to the industry, which brought the Grenfell Tower fire back into the spotlight more than four years after the tragedy struck.
He gave a warning that ministers are prepared to restrict access to government funding and future procurements, use planning powers and take companies to court if they are unwilling to co-operate on the measures.
The plan aims to solve the problems of leaseholders trapped in unsafe and unsellable low-rise flats fitted with hazardous cladding.
The June 2017 fire at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, west London, killed 72 people.
A 2019 inquiry found that the presence of combustible cladding with polyethylene cores on the building acted as a “source of fuel” for the blaze and was the “principal reason” the flames spread at such a rapid pace.
Nearly five years later, tens of thousands of buildings across the UK remain fitted with dangerous cladding.
Under government plans, leaseholders in buildings between 11 metres and 18 metres tall will no longer have to take out loans to cover the costs of remediation work despite no new money coming from the Treasury.
Instead, Mr Gove told developers to agree to start contributing this year to cover the “full outstanding cost”, which he estimates to be £4 billion.
Mr Gove set a deadline of “early March” to publicly accept his ultimatum and provide a “fully funded plan of action”.
“Our home should be a source of security and pride. For too many of the people living in properties your industry has built in recent years, their home has become a source of misery. This must change,” he wrote.
Mr Gove said he is confident that firms are also committed to fixing the “broken system” but cautioned that he is “prepared to take all steps necessary to make this happen”, including “the imposition of a solution in law if needs be”.
However, his vision is unlikely to go ahead in a smooth manner as some building firms and property developers who had the cladding fitted on to flats have since folded.
Mr Gove, who is responsible for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda insisted that individuals living in properties with unsafe cladding “wont’ be expected to pay the bill”.
He said people need to be able to get on with their lives and be confident that their homes are safe and it is only fair to expect property firms, most of whom are making “significant profits”, to cough up.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr Gove sought to dispel any uncertainty about the government’s intentions to stamp out unsafe cladding, insisting ministers will “absolutely” punish companies who fail to take the problem seriously.
He pointed to two instances where ministers had intervened to punish firms.
“Absolutely we will,” he said. “We’ve already taken action in some of the more egregious cases. One of the companies responsible for the cladding that was used on Grenfell Tower — Kingspan — was about to enter into a commercial relationship with Mercedes. The Grenfell community were quite rightly outraged by that. I intervened, I talked to Toto Wolff at Mercedes, he appreciated, not least because of Lewis Hamilton’s own sympathy with the Grenfell united community, and so that contract ended.”
He also pointed to the case in which Rydon Homes, a group linked to the Grenfell cladding, was denied taxpayer funding through the Help to Buy scheme.
“We have shown that we are prepared to ensure that the power of government is there in order to ensure justice is done,” Mr Gove added.
In an interview with Sky News, he said property developers should know that the government wants to “work with them” to resolve the issue but is prepared to use legal means if they won’t co-operate.
“If it is the case that it’s necessary to do so then we will use legal means and ultimately, if necessary, the tax system in order to ensure that those who have deep pockets who are responsible for the upkeep of these buildings pay, rather than the leaseholders, the individuals who in the past were being asked to pay with money they didn’t have for a problem they did not cause,” he said.
“It’s a straightforward question: Should it be those with the big bucks, the big profits, who have been responsible for the construction of these buildings and who are the ultimate owners of these buildings or should it be individuals who have worked hard in order to get a mortgage and who are now being saddled with costs for faults that were not their responsibility?
“If you put the question like that then I think there can only be one answer.”
The housing secretary was expected to meet cladding campaigners on Monday morning before detailing the plan in the Commons.
The government’s idea aimed at solving the cladding crisis was tentatively welcomed by campaigners who have been calling for safer homes since the Grenfell tragedy.
However, developers said they should not be the only ones responsible for the costs.
A spokesman for End Our Cladding Scandal said they were “cautiously optimistic” over the plans but noted the “devil is in the detail”, with the letter saying the measures do not “extend to non-cladding” costs.
“It’s a welcome step in the right direction but there’s still a long road to travel,” he said.
Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, accepted that leaseholders should not have to pay for remediation, but said builders should not be left alone to cover the costs.
He suggested the government should also pursue manufacturers of cladding “who designed, tested and sold materials that developers purchased in good faith that were later proved to not be fit for purpose.”
“While house builders are committed to playing their part, there are many other organisations involved in the construction of affected buildings, including housing associations and local authorities,” he said.
'They should have sorted things by now'
Thousands of residents of the Chalcots Estate in Camden, north London, were evacuated in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy after fire experts told the local council they could not guarantee the cladding was safe.
From 2006 to 2009 the council housing had been refurbished by Rydon, the same firm which worked on the Grenfell Tower. The group had fitted aluminium composite (ACM) cladding on outer walls at both sites.
Workers began to remove the material from Chalcots in the months after Grenfell and this work was completed in January 2018. New cladding and fire safety repairs were ordered for the 717 homes.
But more than four years on, many residents remain unhappy about the slow progress of the project and the nature of the refurbishments.
After investigators discovered combustible materials in some outer walls, new windows had to be ordered which meant that radiators and piping inside flats could not remain. The council recently signed a £77.2 million contract for “A1-fire-rated” cladding, windows and curtain walls to be installed on the 1960s estate.
New cladding is due to be fitted on the high-rise blocks from June.
Rosaline, a mental health worker who has lived on the estate for 15 years, questioned why the council and the government had not worked with developers to ensure the refurbishments be carried out at a faster pace.
“They should have sorted things out from day one,” she told The National.
“The government and the property developers … they are in very safe homes and no one is making the residents [of unsafe buildings] a first priority. It’s disgusting. The government has a responsibility for my safety.”
Having spent two months living in a hotel in the summer of 2017 while inspections were being carried out, Rosaline said she felt uncomfortable returning to her flat given that some unsafe cladding was still present.
Asked if she feels safe living in her home now she said “definitely not” and described her neighbours as “more panicky” since the Grenfell incident.
She also claims her community faced a “backlash” from people on social media who believed they were living in luxurious hotels paid for by the taxpayer.
“The hotel was extremely uncomfortable and disgusting. I had bed bugs in my bed. You would not allow your dog to stay in it,” she said.
“No one was comfortable to [return to] live here but we just had to. You just had to get back to your own place even if it’s not 100 per cent safe.
“People were saying we were scroungers. I work my butt off and like 99 per cent of people want to wake up in my own bed.”
Camden Council has been contacted for comment.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg
Roma 4
Milner (15' OG), Dzeko (52'), Nainggolan (86', 90 4')
Liverpool 2
Mane (9'), Wijnaldum (25')
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
Mountain%20Boy
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Zainab%20Shaheen%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Naser%20Al%20Messabi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Turkish Ladies
Various artists, Sony Music Turkey
More on animal trafficking
RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke
Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke
Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO
Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision
Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision
Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO
Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)
Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)
Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision
Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
%20Ramez%20Gab%20Min%20El%20Akher
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECreator%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Ramez%20Galal%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStreaming%20on%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMBC%20Shahid%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs: 2018 Mercedes-Benz GLA
Price, base / as tested Dh150,900 / Dh173,600
Engine 2.0L inline four-cylinder
Transmission Seven-speed automatic
Power 211hp @ 5,500rpm
Torque 350Nm @ 1,200rpm
Fuel economy, combined 6.4L / 100km
We Weren’t Supposed to Survive But We Did
We weren’t supposed to survive but we did.
We weren’t supposed to remember but we did.
We weren’t supposed to write but we did.
We weren’t supposed to fight but we did.
We weren’t supposed to organise but we did.
We weren’t supposed to rap but we did.
We weren’t supposed to find allies but we did.
We weren’t supposed to grow communities but we did.
We weren’t supposed to return but WE ARE.
Amira Sakalla
Trump v Khan
2016: Feud begins after Khan criticised Trump’s proposed Muslim travel ban to US
2017: Trump criticises Khan’s ‘no reason to be alarmed’ response to London Bridge terror attacks
2019: Trump calls Khan a “stone cold loser” before first state visit
2019: Trump tweets about “Khan’s Londonistan”, calling him “a national disgrace”
2022: Khan’s office attributes rise in Islamophobic abuse against the major to hostility stoked during Trump’s presidency
July 2025 During a golfing trip to Scotland, Trump calls Khan “a nasty person”
Sept 2025 Trump blames Khan for London’s “stabbings and the dirt and the filth”.
Dec 2025 Trump suggests migrants got Khan elected, calls him a “horrible, vicious, disgusting mayor”
Like a Fading Shadow
Antonio Muñoz Molina
Translated from the Spanish by Camilo A. Ramirez
Tuskar Rock Press (pp. 310)
Profile of Tamatem
Date started: March 2013
Founder: Hussam Hammo
Based: Amman, Jordan
Employees: 55
Funding: $6m
Funders: Wamda Capital, Modern Electronics (part of Al Falaisah Group) and North Base Media
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Switching%20sides
%3Cp%3EMahika%20Gaur%20is%20the%20latest%20Dubai-raised%20athlete%20to%20attain%20top%20honours%20with%20another%20country.%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVelimir%20Stjepanovic%20(Serbia%2C%20swimming)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBorn%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20raised%20in%20Dubai%2C%20he%20finished%20sixth%20in%20the%20final%20of%20the%202012%20Olympic%20Games%20in%20London%20in%20the%20200m%20butterfly%20final.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EJonny%20Macdonald%20(Scotland%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EBrought%20up%20in%20Abu%20Dhabi%20and%20represented%20the%20region%20in%20international%20rugby.%20When%20the%20Arabian%20Gulf%20team%20was%20broken%20up%20into%20its%20constituent%20nations%2C%20he%20opted%20to%20play%20for%20Scotland%20instead%2C%20and%20went%20to%20the%20Hong%20Kong%20Sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESophie%20Shams%20(England%2C%20rugby%20union)%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%0D%3Cbr%3EThe%20daughter%20of%20an%20English%20mother%20and%20Emirati%20father%2C%20Shams%20excelled%20at%20rugby%20in%20Dubai%2C%20then%20after%20attending%20university%20in%20the%20UK%20played%20for%20England%20at%20sevens.%20%0D%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dark Souls: Remastered
Developer: From Software (remaster by QLOC)
Publisher: Namco Bandai
Price: Dh199
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
"If you've got them, you can cook basically anything from that base," says Theasby. "These ingredients are so prevalent in every world cuisine and if you've got them in your cupboard, then you know you've got the foundation of a really nice meal."
Your grain of choice
Whether rice, quinoa, pasta or buckwheat, Firth advises always having a stock of your favourite grains in the cupboard. "That you, you have an instant meal and all you have to do is just chuck a bit of veg in."
Expert input
If you had all the money in the world, what’s the one sneaker you would buy or create?
“There are a few shoes that have ‘grail’ status for me. But the one I have always wanted is the Nike x Patta x Parra Air Max 1 - Cherrywood. To get a pair in my size brand new is would cost me between Dh8,000 and Dh 10,000.” Jack Brett
“If I had all the money, I would approach Nike and ask them to do my own Air Force 1, that’s one of my dreams.” Yaseen Benchouche
“There’s nothing out there yet that I’d pay an insane amount for, but I’d love to create my own shoe with Tinker Hatfield and Jordan.” Joshua Cox
“I think I’d buy a defunct footwear brand; I’d like the challenge of reinterpreting a brand’s history and changing options.” Kris Balerite
“I’d stir up a creative collaboration with designers Martin Margiela of the mixed patchwork sneakers, and Yohji Yamamoto.” Hussain Moloobhoy
“If I had all the money in the world, I’d live somewhere where I’d never have to wear shoes again.” Raj Malhotra
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Leaderboard
15 under: Paul Casey (ENG)
-14: Robert MacIntyre (SCO)
-13 Brandon Stone (SA)
-10 Laurie Canter (ENG) , Sergio Garcia (ESP)
-9 Kalle Samooja (FIN)
-8 Thomas Detry (BEL), Justin Harding (SA), Justin Rose (ENG)
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
