What is the Section 51 review of the Act?

The Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 includes a built-in check on how well it is working. This is set out in Section 51.

What does Section 51 require?

• The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage must start a review of how the Act is operating no later than three years after Section 51 came into force.
• A report of the review must be published within 12 months of the review starting.

What are the deadlines?

Section 51 came into force on 22 June 2023, under S.I. No. 331 of 2023, the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022 (Commencement) Order 2023.

From that date:

• Deadline to begin the review: 22 June 2026
• Deadline to publish the review report: 22 June 2027

Has the review started?

As of November 2025:

• there was no sign that the Section 51 review had begun
• no report had been drafted or published
• the Department of Housing had not issued any public notice or press release confirming the review was under way.

You can follow progress on our scheme tracker.

Why does the review matter?

The review is an important safeguard in the law. Its purpose is to make sure the scheme is working effectively and fairly, and to identify any changes needed to the law or to how the scheme is run.

If the review is not started within the required time, that would be a failure to meet a statutory duty under the Act. For changes families are waiting on, see rental properties and the scheme and the science behind defective blocks.