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Welsh government publishes list of developers that have ‘chosen not to engage’ on building safety
The Welsh housing minister has published the names of developers that she said have previously “chosen not to engage” with her over building safety matters as she renews calls for house builders to fix defects in their blocks.
Responding to a Freedom of Information request, Julie James said she had previously sent an open letter to seven developers and one management company inviting them to a meeting to discuss building safety issues.
Of the seven developers that the government approached, Ms James said Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Redrow agreed to attend a roundtable that was held in October last year.
Laing O’Rourke declined to meet with the government, while Bellway, Bovis Homes (now part of Vistry Group) and Westmark failed to respond to the request for the meeting.
Ms James added that she had previously met with representatives from Bellway in March last year.
A spokesperson for Bellway told Inside Housing: “Bellway has met with the minister previously and had positive conversations on the actions we are taking to address historic building safety issues at our developments in Wales. We will continue to engage and work with Welsh government on this issue.”
Inside Housing understands that Vistry Group has no operating sites or offices in Wales and a very small number of historic developments, where no remediation work has been identified. Inside Housing has attempted to contact Westmark.
The Welsh housing minister has now sent a new letter to “all developers” asking them to meet with her to discuss the timeframes they have in place to repair safety defects in their buildings in Wales.
It comes as 45 major developers have now signed up to a UK government pledge that has seen them agree to fix “life-critical” fire safety defects on buildings they have developed over the past 30 years.
Ms James said she has written to developers that have signed the pledge in England and those which have not.
She also expressed her “disappointment” at UK government housing secretary Michael Gove for announcing an England-only building safety levy and developer pledge, “despite clear and repeated representations from the Welsh and Scottish governments”.
Housing and building regulations are devolved matters, meaning the devolved governments have largely dealt with the building safety crisis separately.
However, both the Scottish and Welsh governments have pointed out that Mr Gove’s new approach to tackling the crisis, which includes a new tax on developers, uses powers that are only available at a UK level.
Ms James said some developers that have signed up to Mr Gove’s pledge have already voluntarily extended the pledge to Wales.
It follows an announcement from the Scottish government that it was also close to agreeing a deal with the country’s largest house builders that would see them contribute towards remediation work.
Ms James said: “I am committed to addressing building safety in Wales and continue to take forward our building remediation programme alongside a significant programme of reform to establish a fit for purpose building safety regime in Wales.
“At the heart of our approach to remediation is the fundamental belief that developers should contribute towards the costs of fixing these problems.”
She said it was an “extremely positive step forward” that some firms had agreed to extend their pledge to Wales and that there should be “significant reputational and commercial consequences” for those that fail to act.
Inside Housing has attempted to contact all of the builders listed by the Welsh government.
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