The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove has renewed his demand for developers to properly fund remediation contributions to solve the UK’s cladding crisis.
In his latest letter to the Home Builders Federation, Mr Gove said he was grateful for the work the HBF has done with members and the wider sector to develop these proposals.
He also welcomed the commitment that developers will fund the remediation of fire safety defects in buildings they had a role in developing above 11 metres, without drawing on the Building Safety Fund, and will make refunds to in respect of buildings for which awards have already been made.
But he maintains a stronger commitment is still required than the HBF has so far signalled. “Your current proposal however falls short of full and unconditional self-remediation that I and leaseholders will expect us to agree. I expect all developers to emulate the most responsible firms and commit to full self-remediation of unsafe buildings without added conditions or qualifications,” he said in his letter.
“I would therefore ask you to continue working with my officials to develop these proposals further.
“I share your desire to ensure proportionality is instilled throughout the sector, which is why I have withdrawn the Consolidated Advice Note and supported the development of PAS 9980.
“The Government will continue to work with lenders, insurers, RICS and others to ensure proportionality is embedded across the system. I am disappointed to see you have not proposed a funding solution to cover the full outstanding cost to remediate unsafe cladding on buildings 11-18m. I will therefore ask you to continue to work intensively with my officials in the coming weeks to agree a fully funded plan to fix unsafe buildings by the end of March.
“As part of this process, I expect developers to make public commitments. If an agreement is not reached by the end of March, I have been clear that government will impose a solution in law and have taken powers to impose this solution through the Building Safety Bill. Finally, we agree on the importance of an industry-wide approach to building safety and continue our negotiation with construction product manufacturers.”
The Government is continuing its negotiations with the construction products industry and other stakeholders regarding the cladding crisis and improving building safety. The Construction Products Association’s initial response was to puts the focus on specification and installation for building safety.
