The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has paired two measures in its latest building safety update: the appointment of Professor Sergio Cavalaro as Chief Construction and Scientific Adviser, and the start of the Building Safety Levy on 1 October 2026. In policy terms, the department is presenting technical oversight and funding reform as part of the same programme rather than as separate decisions. According to MHCLG, both steps sit within the government’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, which killed 72 people and exposed serious failures in the design, construction and regulation of residential buildings. Baroness Blake, the minister for building safety, fire and resilience, said safer buildings and protecting residents from costs remain central to the reform agenda.
Cavalaro, Professor of Infrastructure Systems at Loughborough University’s School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, has been appointed for a three-year term. MHCLG said the post is intentionally placed within the wider network of chief scientific advisers across government, reflecting the view that building safety reform depends on engineering evidence as well as legislation and regulatory design. The remit is wider than a conventional technical advisory role. The Chief Construction and Scientific Adviser is expected to provide independent advice on building safety, quality, resilience and productivity across the built environment, while also offering challenge as ministers and regulators move into the next stage of implementation.
The significance of the role is largely about coordination. MHCLG said Cavalaro will support delivery of the remaining Grenfell Tower Inquiry recommendations and wider regulatory reform, while acting as a link between government, the Building Safety Regulator, industry, professional and trade bodies, academic institutions and residents. That matters because post-Grenfell reform now spans several systems at once, including building control, remediation, resident protection, technical standards and enforcement. A single adviser with standing across construction and science should give ministers a more direct route to independent evidence when rules or regulatory practice need to change.
Alongside the appointment, the Building Safety Levy came into force on 1 October 2026. The government describes the levy as a charge attached to new building control applications for eligible new residential developments, including eligible purpose-built student accommodation, with the main threshold set at schemes of more than 10 units. Ministers say the levy is designed to ensure that the development industry contributes to the cost of addressing historic building safety defects, rather than leaving leaseholders or general taxpayers to carry the full burden. MHCLG expects the levy to raise around £3.4 billion over the next 10 years, with the money supporting building safety works including the removal of dangerous cladding.
For developers, investors and project teams, the immediate effect is operational. Schemes that fall within scope will now need to factor the levy into appraisals, programme assumptions and early-stage compliance planning, particularly where the timing of a building control application affects project costs. For residents, the government’s case is that the measure supports a clearer industry-contribution model within building safety reform. By launching the levy at the same time as appointing a senior independent adviser, MHCLG is signalling that funding for remediation and tougher technical oversight are being treated as mutually reinforcing parts of the same policy settlement.
Cavalaro will take up the post on a full-time basis and will work with the interim Chief Construction Adviser, Thouria Istephan, over the next month to complete a handover. MHCLG said the appointment followed an open Civil Service recruitment process, giving the position a formal footing inside the department. The move was also welcomed by senior figures already involved in oversight. Government Chief Scientific Adviser Professor Dame Angela McLean said Cavalaro’s research background would add value to the cross-government science network, while Building Safety Regulator chair Lord Roe said the regulator looked forward to drawing on his experience in the built environment.
His professional background helps explain why the department has connected the role to both safety reform and wider sector performance. Cavalaro is a civil engineer with a PhD in construction engineering and has advised government and industry on issues of national significance and on regulatory systems in the UK and internationally. MHCLG highlighted his work on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete, or RAAC, where he contributed to structural evaluations that informed the national response and helped keep hospitals operational during the Covid-19 period. The department also pointed to his work on modern methods of construction, repair and remediation, materials and quality control. Taken together, the appointment suggests that the next phase of building safety reform will place greater weight on evidence-led decision-making, closer coordination between regulators and practitioners, and a more explicit link between safety, quality and resilience across the built environment.