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Gove’s cladding ultimatum date for builders delayed by nearly a month
House builders will now have until the end of this month to come to an agreement on how to pay for the removal of unsafe cladding across the country, or face having laws imposed that will force them to pay.
In a letter to Stewart Baseley, executive chair of the Home Builders Federation, housing secretary Michael Gove said the current proposals being put forward by the trade body “fell short” of what was needed.
Adding that if the sector does not achieve this, he would bring in legislation to force this on to builders through the Building Safety Bill, which is currently going through parliament.
The deadline for the HBF plan has now shifted by nearly a month, with Mr Gove initially stating in January that this needed to be achieved by early March.
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Today’s letter came in response to the proposals put forward by the HBF two weeks ago of what builders would offer in terms of fixing the building safety crisis.
This included a commitment to resolve “critical” fire safety concerns on all their buildings that are taller than 11 metres, as well as a promise to remove all of its members’ blocks from the Building Safety Fund.
In his letter, Mr Gove welcomed both of these commitments, but said they fell short of full and unconditional self-remediation that he and leaseholders living in unsafe blocks expected to agree.
He added: “I expect all developers to emulate the most responsible firms and commit to full self-remediation of unsafe buildings without added conditions or qualifications.
“I would therefore ask you to continue working with my officials to develop these proposals further.”
Since the turn of the year, Mr Gove has been piling the pressure on developers to contribute more towards the fixing the building safety crisis and protecting leaseholders from the costs. At the heart of this is a multibillion-pound fund that developers must contribute to, which will cover the cost of remediation for buildings that are taller than 11 metres.
In addition to this, Mr Gove has also laid out a series of amendments to the Building Safety Bill which could see the government given powers to prevent house builders from receiving planning permission if they continue to refuse to pay for cladding remediation.
Mr Gove’s letter also stated that his department agreed that fixing the cladding crisis required an industry-wide approach and said the government would continue to negotiate with the construction product manufacturers over contributions.
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