Buying a Flat with Cladding Issues – Would You Proceed?

Hello! I’m in the process of buying a leasehold flat in East London (Hackney), but fire safety concerns have come up and I’d really appreciate advice from anyone who’s been through something similar.

The flat is in a ~20m tall building (G+7). A recent FRAEW (Fire Risk Appraisal of External Wall) gave it a B2 rating, meaning there's an unacceptably high fire risk due to combustible insulation and missing/inadequate cavity barriers.

Here's the situation:

• The original developer has acknowledged liability and committed to covering the cost of remediation under the Government’s Remediation Contract.
• A Letter of Comfort confirms leaseholders won't be charged.
• Interim fire safety measures are being put in place (alarm system, simultaneous evacuation).
• Developer has signed a pre-construction agreement with a contractor (Deep Contracts), but no full remediation contract is in place yet.
• A Head of Terms agreement is expected in late Q3 or early Q4 2025.
• The actual remediation works are now estimated to start mid-2026, subject to Building Safety Regulator (BSR) approval.

I haven’t exchanged yet, and I’ve put solicitor work on hold while I weigh the risks.

My concerns:

• There’s no formal timeline or legal commitment in place yet.
• A lot depends on Telford’s internal approvals and BSR sign-off (which could easily delay things into 2027)
• Until the works are complete and a new EWS1 is issued, the flat would be very hard to remortgage or resell.

Has anyone here gone ahead with a similar purchase? Did the works actually happen on schedule? Would you proceed if you were in my shoes?

Thanks in advance for any insight!