Building safety agreement with developers

On 13 April 2022 the government announced agreement with developers in England to contribute £5 billion to address the building safety issues that were uncovered following the Grenfell Tower fire.

Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove agreed with developers that they will commit a minimum of £2 billion to fix their own buildings, and the industry will pay up to a further £3 billion through an expansion to the Building Safety Levy to fix buildings where those responsible cannot be identified or forced to in law. The Building Safety Levy is chargeable on all new residential buildings in England.

35 of the UK’s biggest homebuilders have pledged to fix all buildings of 11 metres or more that they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years. The Secretary of State has made clear that those who continue to refuse to agree will face consequences that could include blocking them from building and selling new homes.

Michael Gove said: “Today marks a significant step towards protecting innocent leaseholders and ensuring those responsible pay to solve the crisis they helped to cause. I welcome the move by many of the largest developers to do the right thing. But this is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to hold industry to account, and under our new measures there will be nowhere to hide.”

The detailed agreement requires that developers:

• Act as quickly as possible to fix buildings.
• Implement new proportionate guidance on building safety.
• Regularly report to leaseholders and government on their progress.
• Respect an independent dispute resolution process established by government.
• Refund money already received from the taxpayer to fix their buildings.

More information about how the government plans to enforce the agreement will be published at a later date.

Cladding and insulation manufacturers are yet to accept their share of responsibility and come forward with a proposal. The Secretary of State has warned he will do whatever it takes to hold them to account.

You can find out more here https://www.gov.uk/government/news/agreement-with-major-developers-to-fund-building-safety-repairs

[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings

• ACM cladding.
• Building safety bill.
• Celotex RS5000 PIR insulation.
• Fire safety bill.
• Grenfell Tower articles.
• Grenfell Tower fire.
• Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
• HPL cladding.
• Independent review of the building regulations and fire safety.
• Non-ACM cladding.
• Protecting tenants and leaseholders from unsafe cladding.
• Reform of building safety standards.