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Welsh government confirms all developers have submitted remediation plans despite concerns raised by resident group
The Welsh government has confirmed that all of the house builders that signed up to the developers pact to remediate buildings with fire safety issues have set out plans for completing the work.
The government’s response comes after a letter was sent to the head of building safety remediation in Wales by the management company of a block in Cardiff caught up in the fire safety crisis.
Inside Housing understands that under Clause 8.1 of the contract, house builders were required to submit their plans within 40 working days after the date of the contract, which expired on 13 June.
But the letter from the chair of the Celestia Management Company, and member of the Welsh Cladiators group, pointed out that the only correspondence they have received is confirmation that house builder Redrow has entered into the contract.
However, it did not contain any information that Redrow “intends to meet its obligations and, specifically, identifies no intended works, much less any target dates to complete them”.
In response, the Welsh government said that Redrow has submitted a plan for fire safety work, alongside the other developers that signed the pact.
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They include Lovell, Vistry (and Countryside Partnerships following the merger), Persimmon, McCarthy Stone, Taylor Wimpey, Crest Nicholson, Barratts and Bellway.
The Welsh government also confirmed that it had received the letter from the Celestia Management Company and has now responded.
A government spokesperson added: “All developers who have signed the Welsh government’s contract have returned their work plans in line with their contractual requirements.
“We’re analysing these work plans and will work with developers to ensure remediation works are undertaken as soon as possible.”
Redrow told Inside Housing that it is fulfilling its obligations, including those under Clause 8.1, and has formally written to Celestia within the 40-day period.
A spokesperson said: “We have engaged with the management company regarding access to the buildings identified so that investigations may take place. Those discussions continue.
“We have appointed consultants and continue to move forward on the remediation of life critical fire safety issues at Celestia.”
However, the Welsh Cladiators group, which represents hundreds of residents caught up in the crisis, told Inside Housing that it is concerned the government has adopted a “more collaborative and light-touch enforcement approach towards developers” than in England.
The group added: “Welsh government policy is to rely on ‘self-remediation contracts’ between the government and a small number of large developers.
"These are not commercial contracts. They are an extraordinary use, many would say misuse, of government power. If they were commercial contracts, both parties would have an interest in performing them and would resource them accordingly.
“However, there is nothing commercial about a developer spending millions of pounds on remedying defects in return of payment of £1 as set out in Clause 2 of the contracts.”
The Welsh Cladiators believes this leaves developers with little incentive “to perform or provide proper resources” under the contract.
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