Written Statement: Welsh Building Safety Programme (13 March 2026)

I am delighted the Senedd has given Stage 4 approval to the Building Safety (Wales) Bill, a vital pillar of our response to the Grenfell Tower fire in which 72 people tragically lost their lives. I would like to express my gratitude to the housing sector, the Fire and Rescue Service and partners in local government for their enthusiastic engagement and supportive challenge which has enabled the development of this important piece of legislation. The work to implement the recommendations of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry continues; our progress update can be found in the Grenfell Tower Inquiry Phase 2 Report.

Meanwhile the Welsh Building Safety Programme remains central to our commitment to ensuring residents across Wales live in safe homes. I feel deeply for people who continue to endure the stress and expense of waiting for their homes to be remediated but I am also keenly aware of the huge logistical challenges of delivering the programme.

Of the 470¹ buildings in the programme works have been completed or are underway at 219. Each signatory to the Welsh Government developer contract has committed to ensuring works are underway by December 2026 at every development they are responsible for in Wales. Our Building Remediation progress statistics contain a detailed breakdown of the programme data.

I am pleased to see progress being made and determined to see all barriers removed to ensure the pace of remediation increases. I am aware there have been challenges agreeing the works licences at some developments. To help tackle this I have commissioned bespoke guidance to support responsible entities to navigate what can sometimes be a challenging process.

I am completely committed to ensuring the safety of our medium and high-rise residential buildings and am proud to have been able to work with members across the Senedd to introduce a landmark piece of legislation which will help deliver on that aim. As the Building Safety (Wales) Bill moves into the implementation phase, it is vital we all continue to work in partnership to ensure the fire safety issues at all buildings in the programme are remediated as quickly as possible.

¹ Previous data releases have reported 473 buildings in programme including 163 in the developer contract category. This has been reduced to 160 as 3 buildings having been confirmed to be below the 11-metre threshold.