The funding will be available to owners to have relevant buildings assessed, regardless of whether the property is privately owned or social housing. A further extension of this scheme is also planned to support mitigation and remediation works.

In the first instance, the offer will be available until 30 September 2025, or until funding is fully committed. The number of applications will be kept under review and further rounds of the open call process may be run.

These initiatives, announced yesterday by housing minister Paul McLennan, are part of a cladding remediation plan published alongside the Scottish Government’s response to the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 2 Report.

In the cladding remediation plan, the Scottish Government said it will continue to take forward assessment, mitigation and remediation for properties for which it has taken the lead.

It added: “We are directly taking forward assessment for 13 properties and preparing to assess a further 4 properties. We will take forward necessary mitigation and/or remediation works for those properties in light of the SBAs received.

“We will continue to work with partners to gain as clear as possible a picture of the extent and nature of cladding risk across Scotland, and the action being taken. In particular, we will use that information to make sure that properties at elevated risk are being addressed

“We have written to local authorities to ask them to provide an update on the situation in relation to cladding for each high-rise building in their ownership. We have also written to the Scottish Housing Regulator to ask them to provide a similar update for all relevant RSL-owned properties. Returns are expected from partners by the end of April 2025.

“Using this information we will work with partners to identify specific properties that are at an elevated risk from cladding, and to determine how those risks will be addressed. This will provide a necessary complement to the ‘bottom-up’ process now set in train through the Single Open Call. We will track, gather and assure information on mitigation and remediation progress on elevated risk properties identified by local authority and RSL partners.”

Developer Remediation Contract

The Scottish Government also said it is finalising the ‘Developer Remediation Contract’, and is working with developers to accelerate progress with remediation.

The plan stated: “We are finalising an agreement with the larger developers on the ‘Developer Remediation Contract’, enabling them to take forward assessment and remediation on properties for which they have accepted responsibility. This follows intensive negotiations since the sharing of draft terms in September 2024, with significant progress made in agreement in principle of key terms. We are working towards final agreement as soon as is practicable.

“This will enable a significant acceleration in developer-led action on cladding in Scotland. We will continue to work collaboratively with developers to support their efforts. We will also track, gather and assure information on their remediation progress.”

The Scottish Conservatives have criticised the Scottish Government for making “painfully slow” progress in the eight years since the Grenfell disaster.

Despite a recent Public Accounts Committee report which highlighted a series of failed measures to address the cladding crisis in England, housing spokesperson Meghan Gallacher said Scotland was “miles behind” the UK government in removing unsafe cladding south of the border, describing the announcement as a “kick in the teeth” to concerned residents.

Speaking after the statement, the MSP said: “Despite receiving nearly £100m from the UK government to fix the problem, work has only begun on five of 107 affected properties and Paul McLennan clearly has no clue when that work will be completed.”

Labour housing spokesperson Mark Griffin added: “We’re in a remarkable position where we’ve had more ministerial statements on cladding than we’ve had buildings remediated.”

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) said it will work to ensure the funding criteria takes an “equal approach to all types of housing”.

SFHA director of external affairs, Carolyn Lochhead, said: “Scotland’s housing associations and co-operatives take their responsibility for the safety of their tenants very seriously. They work to protect tenants every day, and they want to do more. However, on the matter of cladding, housing associations and their tenants are not being treated in the same way as owner-occupiers.

“The plan that the Scottish Government has set out makes it clear that those who own their homes have a clear pathway to access funding for removing unsafe cladding: but social tenants may not. That is fundamentally wrong. Without change, we risk the burden falling on those least able to shoulder it. We need an equal approach to all types of housing, and a clear path to funding for housing associations who need it. SFHA will be working to influence the criteria before it’s published for the benefit of our members who need support.”

Housing minister Paul McLennan said: “The fire at Grenfell Tower, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people, was a tragedy that should never have been able to happen.

“For owners who have cladding in their homes, this has been a worrying time which is why we have launched this new fund to speed up the process of assessing and replacing unsafe cladding.

“Of the 58 recommendations in the Inquiry’s second report, 43 relate to areas devolved to Scotland and we are continuing to collaborate with other parts of the UK on building and fire safety matters.

“Immediately after the tragedy, we took steps to strengthen building safety in Scotland and we are continuing to deliver an ongoing programme of improvements including introducing legislation as appropriate.”