Twenty-two buildings in Scotland require urgent safety measures to address risks to human life associated with their external walls, while not a single block has been declared fully repaired under the Scottish Government national cladding programme, nearly nine years after the Grenfell Tower Fire.
The number of buildings requiring the special measures has more than doubled since February, when 10 were reported to have them in place, The Herald can reveal.
The temporary protections are used when an assessor judges there to be an “immediate risk to human life” that is unacceptable. They can include additional fire alarms, on-site monitoring or changes to evacuation plans, but Scottish Government analysis seen by The Herald does not specify which measures are in place at each building.
Up to 1,500 tower blocks across Scotland may need repairs, but at the end of June, just one building has had Scottish Government-funded cladding remediation work seemingly completed since the programme began five years ago. But it has emerged that even that project is not complete as further work was recommended by its safety assessment and remains outstanding.
Just two buildings had work under way under the scheme — one fewer than at the end of February. A further building had some work completed in 2024, but additional repairs recommended by its safety assessment remained outstanding.
Official figures show that in England, by the end of June 2026, 1,681 of the 4,469 residential buildings identified with unsafe cladding had completed remediation work. A further 698 had work under way, while 2,090 had not started.
June records show that just £21.6m out of the £97.1m received from Westminster via Barnett consequentials seven years ago has been spent to deal with potentially flammable cladding on buildings.
The slow progress comes nearly nine years after the Grenfell Tower fire in west London, in which 72 people died. The building’s cladding is believed to have contributed to the rapid spread of the blaze.
The Scottish Government declared a housing emergency in May, 2024, due to a combination of unprecedented, systemic pressures on the country’s housing system—most notably record-high levels of homelessness, an severe shortage of affordable social housing, and intense local authority strain.
The Scottish Government established its cladding remediation programme in the wake of the disaster to address risks to human life created or worsened by external wall cladding systems.
But the programme has faced delays, including difficulties obtaining the consent of owners and residents for assessments and work to proceed.
The Scottish Tenants Organisation which has been fighting since the Grenfell disaster to have properties made safe have described the situation as a "national scandal".
"The Scottish Government in the nine years since the Grenfell disaster has failed miserably to tackle the flammable cladding in tower blocks in Scotland thereby endangering the lives of tenants in Scotland. The Scottish Government has got to pull the finger out to remove dangerous cladding and make all tower blocks safe so that no Grenfell fire disaster happens in Scotland.
"We need action now."
The Scottish Government’s programme is intended to protect residents and homeowners by identifying and addressing fire safety risks associated with external wall systems. The latest figures show that, despite more assessments being under way, the number completed has remained unchanged for months and urgent temporary measures are now in place at more buildings.
London's Grenfell Tower tragedy in June 2017 tragically exposed how certain external wall system - especially Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) panels paired with combustible insulation, can enable rapid fire spread. These materials were found to dramatically accelerate the spread of the fire, contributing to 72 deaths.
It was estimated that between 1,260 and 1,450 of the residential buildings in Scotland which are 11 metres or over may require repair to deal with a life-safety risk. Of those around 250 are over 18m high.
It was previously estimated about 900 buildings were affected.
More than five years ago, The Herald first revealed about concerns about dealing with the cladding issue - when not a penny had been spent to deal with the problem.
Then, their analysis found at least 85 high rise blocks and over 130 other buildings, mainly schools overseen by Scotland's 32 local authorities contained high pressure laminate (HPL) panels which safety experts have raised serious concerns over.
Official analysis of local authority high rises carried out at the time showed that a further 23 of Scotland's 774 high rise buildings reported polyethylene type ACM panels (ACM-PE), another combustible material, similar to that found at Grenfell. A further 15 buildings reported "limited combustibility".
The latest returns shows that only 16 government-funded Single Building Assessments (SBAs) had been completed by the end of June — unchanged since September last year. All 16 identified work needed to address fire safety risks.
A further 29 assessment reports had been received but were still being checked against the programme’s standards before they could be counted as complete.
An SBA is a detailed assessment of a building’s external walls, intended to identify any risks to human life and the work required to remove or reduce them.
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The number of government-funded assessments under way rose from 149 at the end of March to 219 at the end of June.
Of those, 108 were in Glasgow, 42 in Edinburgh and 21 in Aberdeen. The remaining 48 were spread across seven other council areas.
A total of 1,799 buildings were put forward for help under the Scottish Government’s cladding scheme before applications closed at the end of March.
But by the end of June, just 956 — 53% — were considered likely to qualify for government funding to assess their safety and identify any repairs needed. The remaining 843 were ruled ineligible.
The figures relate to expressions of interest, which do not necessarily correspond to individual buildings. Some assessments can cover more than one building.
Responsibility for repairs is also being pursued through a separate route involving developers.
Five developers — Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey, Barratt Redrow, Miller Homes and Bellway — have reported responsibility for 122 buildings in Scotland.
At the end of June, 90 of those buildings had not started an SBA, 31 had assessments under way and one had completed an assessment.
Remediation work had started at two buildings. At one, the assessment had been completed and recommended repairs. At the other, the assessment was still under way.
The developer figures show that Bellway had 17 assessments under way, while 58 buildings linked to Barratt Redrow had not started an assessment.
A Housing Cladding Remediation Bill passed unanimously at Holyrood in 2024 with 116 votes for and none against.
It was expected to give ministers further powers to assess and carry out remediation on buildings with unsafe cladding - with any work then recorded in a special register.
At the time of Grenfell, cladding regulations were already stricter in Scotland than the rest of the UK, due to legislation that had been introduced in 2005.
This followed a fatal fire at the Garnock Court tower block in Irvine in 1999.
A 55-year-old man died in the fire and five other people, including a 15-month-old child, were injured in the Irvine blaze.
Witnesses reported that a vertical ribbon of cladding on one corner of the block was quickly ablaze and the fire reached the 12th floor within 10 minutes of it starting.
The flats were owned by North Ayrshire Council, who ordered the removal of plastic cladding and PVC window frames as a precaution "at whatever cost" so they could be replaced with safer materials.
The then local MP, Brian Donohoe, said at the time he believed there was something "quite wrong" in the use of the cladding.
Last week, the UK government said a proposed a law to help the removal of dangerous cladding which they said would people move on after years of living in limbo.
Housing secretary Angela Rayner said “no building and no resident” will be left behind as the Government’s Building Safety (Remediation of Unsafe Cladding) Bill would ensure the material is taken off buildings.
Ms Rayner said that nearly a decade since the Grenfell Tower disaster, hundreds of thousands of people are still living in buildings with unsafe cladding.
The bill which would cover England and Wales will expand support to people who did not qualify under rules set out in 2022, and is intended to help “narrow the eligibility gaps” and provide more relief and support for those homeowners.
MPs heard work has not been completed on nearly two-thirds of affected homes.
The Home Secretary said enforcement and fines had been “too slow” and “too weak”.
Those responsible for buildings could face fines of £500,000 if they do not carry out work.
It will force owners to carry out removal and repair works for dangerous cladding.
Other measures include protections for leaseholders to ensure costs are not passed onto them through service charges.
Shadow housing secretary Katie Lam said her party was supportive, but had concerns about certain parts of the Bill.
Ms Rayner said of the 4,724 buildings where cladding has been found, work has only been completed on 1,849, just under 40%.
Since Labour brought in its “accelerated” plan in December 2024, 470 more properties have been completed.
Regulators have taken enforcement action on more than 900 properties where those responsible were not carrying out work.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Cladding Remediation Programme is proceeding at pace - 956 buildings have been identified for potential Single Building Assessments funded by Scottish Government. Assessments are underway in 219 buildings and we have provided councils with £31.5 million to fund assessment and life safety mitigation measures for buildings in scope.
“Cladding remediation is a complex programme involving a wide range of building types, ownership arrangements and remediation solutions. Activity is being prioritised on the basis of life-safety risk and the Scottish Government continues to work with developers, local authorities and building owners to accelerate their assessments and remediation activity.”
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