Brocade
TL;DR: MHCLG is extending Cladding Safety Scheme funding, delivered by Homes England, to multi-occupied residential buildings under 11 metres in England. Applications open on 17 August 2026 and run for an 8-week window, with no pre-registration and no early access. For high-risk buildings, valid applications are progressed in the order they are received, so the readiness of your evidence pack decides your position in the queue.
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What MHCLG Announced
On 9 July 2026, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government published new funding for cladding remediation in buildings under 11 metres, delivered through the existing Cladding Safety Scheme and administered by Homes England.
"Applications open on 17 August 2026 and close 8 weeks later, ensuring support is available for eligible low-rise buildings where cladding remediation is essential to make a building safe."
— MHCLG, Buildings under 11 metres: new funding, 9 July 2026
The announcement delivers a commitment made in the Remediation Acceleration Plan update (July 2025) and, in MHCLG's words, "supports a risk-based approach to remediation."
The practical change is narrow but real. The fund overview states the new funding "removes the requirement for buildings to be over 11 metres in height" and that it "is tenure neutral. This means both privately owned and social housing buildings will be able to apply, where they meet the funding criteria."
This matters for a specific reader. Buildings under 11 metres sit below the higher-risk-building threshold, and below the height requirement that this funding, in MHCLG's own words, "removes." That stock is heavily RTM, RMC, and small managing agent territory. Until now, those buildings had no route into the Cladding Safety Scheme at all.
Does This Cladding Funding Cover Your Building?
Three criteria decide whether an application is even possible.
The building contains 2 or more dwellings. The fund overview is explicit: "funding will apply to buildings containing 2 or more dwellings."
A PAS 9980 assessment has identified a serious risk. MHCLG has not softened its underlying position on low-rise stock:
"The department's position remains that buildings under 11 metres are less likely to have widespread cladding fire safety risks. However, funding may be available where a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls, undertaken by a suitably qualified and competent professional in accordance with PAS 9980:2022, identifies unsafe cladding that presents a serious life critical fire safety risk."
— MHCLG, Buildings under 11 metres: new funding, 9 July 2026
The fund overview defines the term it is working with: "unsafe cladding" means "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."
The risk rating drives priority. MHCLG states that funding "will be prioritised according to cladding fire safety risk, with priority given to buildings that present a high life critical cladding fire safety risk." Buildings assessed as medium (action required) can apply, and their FRAEWs are reviewed on the same basis, but high-risk buildings are taken forward first.
If your building has no FRAEW, you have no application. That is the binding constraint, and it is the one worth acting on this month.
Who Actually Submits the Application
The applicant is the responsible entity, not the leaseholders and not necessarily the people reading this.
"Applications must be submitted by the responsible entity or their authorised representative. Leaseholders and residents cannot apply directly."
— MHCLG, Buildings under 11 metres: fund overview, 9 July 2026
For an RTM company this deserves care rather than assumption. An RTM company acquires management functions under the lease but does not acquire the freehold, and responsibility for the external wall system varies with the lease and the structure of the building. Whether the RTM company, the RMC, the freeholder, or the managing agent is the responsible entity for these purposes is a question to settle in writing before 17 August, not during the window.
Establish and record three things: who holds responsibility for the external wall, who is authorised to submit on their behalf, and who is instructing the FRAEW. A building where those three answers sit in three different organisations, undocumented, is a building that will lose days it does not have.
Where residents cannot get traction with their responsible entity, MHCLG has provided a route: leaseholders and residents "can use the Tell us Tool to notify Homes England about their building. Homes England will follow up with the responsible entity to help ensure an application can be submitted if required."
What an Application Needs
Applications are submitted through the Cladding Safety Scheme Building Remediation Hub. The fund overview sets one hard gate:
"An application cannot be submitted without a FRAEW and, where available, an FRA."
— MHCLG, Buildings under 11 metres: fund overview, 9 July 2026
Two further requirements shape what you should be assembling now.
Homes England audits the assessment. Every FRAEW submitted under this fund, "whether relating to high or medium (action required) risk buildings," is reviewed "in line with existing Cladding Safety Scheme processes and PAS 9980:2022 methodology, to confirm that proposed cladding remediation works are necessary and proportionate." An FRAEW that does not stand up to audit is a delay at best.
You will be asked what else you have tried. The fund overview states that responsible entities "will be asked if they have explored redress measures or alternative funding routes, such as insurance claims, developer contributions, or warranty schemes, before funding is confirmed." If your building has an open warranty position or a developer who has been asked and declined, the correspondence trail is part of your answer. If nobody has asked, the six weeks before the window opens is when to ask.
Read the complete Golden Thread guide →
The Eight-Week Window, and Why Your Submission Time Matters
This is the detail most likely to catch people out.
"For buildings assessed as high-risk, valid applications are progressed in the order they are received, with the date and time of submission determining their position in the funding pipeline."
— MHCLG, Buildings under 11 metres: fund overview, 9 July 2026
All applications are date- and time-stamped at the point of submission. There is no pre-registration and no early access. The fund overview describes the shape of the process as "a 6-week lead-in period before applications open, allowing responsible entities time to prepare the information and supporting documents required to make an application" followed by "an 8-week application window."
Read that lead-in language as instruction rather than courtesy. MHCLG has told you exactly what the preparation period is for. A building whose FRAEW is commissioned on 18 August is competing against buildings whose FRAEW was finished in June.
What to Get In Order Before 17 August
- Confirm the responsible entity in writing. Ask the freeholder, the RMC, and the managing agent to state their position on who is responsible for the external wall system, and keep the replies.
- Locate or commission the FRAEW. It must be PAS 9980:2022 compliant and carried out by a suitably qualified and competent professional. Without it there is no application.
- Pull the current Fire Risk Assessment. The fund requires it where available. A superseded FRA with no evidence of what replaced it is a gap an auditor will find.
- Assemble the building record. External wall construction details, any previous surveys or intrusive investigations, remedial works already carried out, and the dates and authorship of each.
- Document the redress position. Warranty correspondence, insurance claim status, and any approach made to the original developer, with dates and responses.
- Decide who submits, and give them Hub access. The person with the login should not be discovering they need one on the morning of 17 August.
A folder of unsorted PDFs is not an evidence pack. Each document needs to be identifiable by what it covers, when it was produced, and who produced it. This is the same discipline the golden thread asks for in higher-risk buildings, applied to a building that sits well below that threshold. Brocade exists to keep records in that state continuously, so that an application window is a retrieval exercise rather than a scramble. It will not commission your FRAEW or file your application, but it will mean you know where every supporting document is on the day the window opens.
What This Funding Is Not
Three sentences in the fund overview deserve to be read literally, because expectations set too high here will land on leaseholders.
It is not universal. "Funding is targeted. It is not a commitment to fund all medium or high-risk buildings under 11 metres."
It is not an entitlement. "Meeting the fund requirements does not create any entitlement to funding," and "all decisions remain subject to prioritisation and the availability of funding."
It does not move responsibility. "Responsible entities remain responsible for ensuring that their buildings are safe and that fire safety risks are appropriately identified, assessed and managed." A rejected application changes nothing about the underlying duty to manage the risk.
If you are briefing a board or a leaseholder meeting before the window opens, brief it on those three sentences alongside the opening date. An application submitted is not a grant awarded.
Common Questions
When do applications open for the under 11 metres cladding fund?
Applications open on 17 August 2026 and run for an 8-week application window, preceded by a 6-week lead-in period. MHCLG states there is no pre-registration or early access.
Who can apply for under 11 metres cladding funding?
Applications must be submitted by the responsible entity or their authorised representative. Leaseholders and residents cannot apply directly, though they can notify Homes England about their building using the Tell us Tool.
What documents does an application need?
An application cannot be submitted without a Fire Risk Appraisal of External Walls (FRAEW), and a Fire Risk Assessment where one is available. All applications go through the Cladding Safety Scheme Building Remediation Hub.
Does my building qualify if it is under 11 metres?
Funding applies to buildings containing 2 or more dwellings and is tenure neutral. MHCLG's position remains that buildings under 11 metres are less likely to have widespread cladding fire safety risks, so funding depends on a PAS 9980:2022 assessment identifying a serious life critical risk.
Does meeting the criteria guarantee funding?
No. MHCLG states that meeting the fund requirements does not create any entitlement to funding, and that all decisions remain subject to prioritisation and the availability of funding. The fund is targeted rather than a commitment to fund all eligible buildings.
Why does the date I submit matter?
For buildings assessed as high-risk, valid applications are progressed in the order they are received, and all applications are date- and time-stamped at submission. Your submission time determines your position in the funding pipeline.
Further Reading
- The Commonhold Reform Bill and Remediation Bill: What's Coming for RTM and RMC Directors covers the proposed 11-18 metre register and the remediation duty that would sit alongside this funding route.
- Developers Promised to Start Work on 80% of Their Unsafe Buildings by This Month sets out the developer-led remediation route, worth checking before you apply if your building may be covered by it.
- The Golden Thread in Practice on keeping building records in a state where they can be produced on demand.
- MHCLG: Buildings under 11 metres: new funding and the fund overview, the primary sources for everything above.
- Cladding Safety Scheme overview for the wider scheme this funding is delivered through.
This article is for informational purposes and reflects guidance published on 9 July 2026. Eligibility for any specific building depends on a competent professional's assessment. For building-specific advice, consult a qualified fire safety professional.