Grenfell-style Grenfell cladding on tower blocks will be abandoned by half a century.
The government wanted to complete the work before the end of 2019, for social housing, and June 2020 for private homes.
Research by Labour Party has shown that completion dates for both February 2024 and April 2025 are likely.
It took even longer to replace dangerous cladding in other areas that affected more than ten thousands of blocks.
Meanwhile the Daily Mail can reveal that Michael Gove’s bid to slash the number of flats rendered unsellable by fire safety rules is set to fail, trapping hundreds of thousands of more leaseholders.
Nearly 1.3 million leaseholders were left without a choice: to sell their homes or remortgage them after the Grenfell fire.
Grenfell-style Grenfell cladding on tower blocks will be abandoned by half a century.
Lenders won’t provide mortgages until the properties have passed a fire risk assessment, but a shortage of engineers has created waits of up to ten years.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove is keen to cut red tape and reduce the number affected properties. But, draft guidance by British Standards Institution (BSI), would expand checks to small properties like period conversions.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said that it cannot ignore issues of fire safety in small blocks.
Martin Boyd, of the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership, said the PAS 9980 guidance from the BSI would drag ‘hundreds of thousands’ of extra flats into the fire safety process.
He added: ‘It’s an utter mess. No one wants to be culpable for saying we didn’t need to bother to look at these buildings.’
A BSI spokesman said: ‘PAS 9980 is currently going through its final approval process, and more information will be available in due course.’
A Government spokesman said the claims ‘were based on a misunderstanding of PAS 9980’.
He added that the draft guidance set out ‘a consistent method of assessing risk’ and ministers were ‘committed to ensuring leaseholders are supported and protected and will be setting out further proposals in due course’.
For social housing, the Government desired the completion of the work by end 2019 and for private property by June 2020.
The Daily Mail started a campaign in June to stop the Cladding Scandal a year ago.
Ministers have announced a slew of measures in response to our demands, including tripling to £5.1billion the funding available to those with dangerous cladding.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also confirmed that a new developer tax will ensure building firms pay £2billion into the fund over a decade.
But campaigners say that, despite progress, huge holes remain and leaseholders still face crippling bills of up to £150,000 each for the fire-safety work.
Matthew Pennycook, the Labour Party’s housing spokesman, said Mr Gove must ‘accelerate the pace of remediation’.
A spokesman for the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign said: ‘The Daily Mail’s campaign has helped to put the injustice facing hundreds of thousands of leaseholders on the front pages where it belongs.
‘Mr Gove may be starting to talk tough, but those promises need to be backed by tough action, too.’
Flats have had to be inspected for fire hazards in the aftermath of the Grenfell fire that claimed 72 lives on June 2017.
Initially, they were only for buildings over 18m tall. But in January 2020 the Government extended guidance to all heights. The result was an increase in flats that require an external wall survey, from 307,000 up to 1.3 million.
This caused havoc in the housing market with thousands of transactions falling apart and flat sales dropping by half.
Research by Labour Party has shown that completion dates for both February 2024 and April 2025 are likely.
Ministers tried to reverse the damage last July by declaring that no surveys are required for buildings less than 18m or six stories. This goal is now in doubt due to the RICS and BSI guidance.
While they await public funding, some leaseholders pay thousands of pounds to temporarily implement fire safety measures.
The management company for Magellan House in Leeds submitted an application six months ago to the £5.1billion cladding fund but has not heard back.
And because the fund does not cover non-cladding defects, leaseholders do not know whether they will have to pay part of the bill, which totals £43,000 a flat.
Leaseholders could be charged thousands to repair missing firebreaks and flammable timber balconies.
Lilli Houghton, who bought her flat with her boyfriend for £145,000 in 2018, says she has already paid £7,000 for an evacuation manager, new fire alarms and soaring insurance premiums.
She said: ‘It’s just an awful situation – the fact that we haven’t received anything after six months is a bit of a joke.’
£85,000 each to fix our low-risk flats
Cladding victims reacted with fury after being told last week their block needed repairs costing them £85,000 each.
Shared ownership leaseholders at Oyster Court in Elephant and Castle, south London, must now find £2.6million to fix fire safety defects at their four- storey development.
The Government says that the buildings are below 18 m in height, and therefore not eligible for government funding.
Due to its 18-metre height, repairs will be made on a private neighboring block.
Oyster Court residents Liam, Ollie, and Emma Spragley with their families, center
Liam Spragley believes that his goal of climbing the property ladder is now a distant dream.
The 39-year-old who lives with his husband Ollie, 36, bought a 25 per cent share of his flat for £75,000 when he was 26.
But his stake could be wiped out by the £85,000 repair bill. Mr Spragley, who works in marketing, said: ‘I’m massively in negative equity. It’s heartbreaking. I turn 40 next year and I’m trapped.’
Emma McGovern is a teacher of 34 years and mother to four children. She fears that she will end up without anything because of the massive remediation bill.
She said: ‘Our block is so small, I can’t believe it. The whole point of moving into shared ownership was that it’s meant to be affordable housing.’
She owns 45 per cent of her flat, having taken out a £120,000 mortgage.