When Safety Takes Second Place to Profit

This Friday at 1pm, Cladding Matters returns with a conversation that sits at the heart of everything we have discussed over the past year. Joining Gareth Wax in the chair will be Stephen Day, Dominic Ahern and myself, Hamish McLay. Dominic brings a financial lens that is often missing in public discussion, and it will be useful to explore what happens when the numbers tell a story the industry would rather not dwell on.

Recent reports and commentary suggest that parts of the housing system are still designed to keep the wheels of industry turning smoothly, even when residents are living with risk, uncertainty or spiralling costs. It feels as though safety and wellbeing are frequently treated as secondary considerations. The legacy of light regulation, stretching back years, has left too many people in buildings that were never built to last. Today those same people face scaffolding, noise, disruption and bills that were never theirs to carry.

Although remediation programmes exist, the gaps are obvious to anyone who follows this closely. Some buildings fall outside the funding criteria. Others are left waiting while legal and financial questions move slowly from one desk to another. In the meantime residents continue their lives in homes that feel more like managed construction sites than places of comfort. Royal Artillery Quays is a living example, and Stephen Day will once again bring that lived experience to the panel.

What stands out from the recent research is how deeply financial priorities shape outcomes. Developers, corporate landlords and large investment groups are often insulated from the practical consequences of unsafe construction practices. Yet residents absorb the disruption, the uncertainty and the financial stress. One wonders whether the system has been structured to safeguard industry stability rather than human safety, and whether political promises have been allowed to paint a more reassuring picture than reality can support.

This is where Dominic Ahern’s perspective will be valuable. As a chartered accountant, he has a clear eye for where responsibility tends to land and where it quietly slides away. It will be interesting to hear his thoughts on the financial pathways behind remediation, especially when money flows in ways that do not easily align with accountability.

There is also a human cost that rarely receives the attention it deserves. Rising service charges, mental strain and the feeling of being trapped by a system that does not move at the pace of real life weigh heavily on thousands of leaseholders. These pressures are not abstract. They shape families, careers and health. They shift people’s sense of stability and their ability to plan for the future. Conversations can easily get lost in schemes, timetables and technical provisions, yet the human impact remains the most important measure of all.

Cladding Matters continues to shine a light on these realities because they are not isolated issues. They echo across the country in buildings that share the same history and the same structural failings. Friday’s session will be a space to explore what can change, what still obstructs progress and how those who live with the consequences every day can be better protected.

We hope you will join us for what promises to be an open and grounded discussion.

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