Eleven housing developers could be banned from building in England after failing to sign the government’s developer remediation contract.
The list includes Ballymore, Lendlease and Galliard Homes.
The deadline to sign the contract was Monday, but a number of developers were given extra time to sort out the details and implications of signing. As of last night, 39 developers had signed, ranging from Berkeley Group to Vistry.
But Abbey Developments, Avant, Ballymore, Dandara, Emerson Group, Galliard Homes, Inland Homes, Lendlease, London Square, Rydon Homes and Telford Homes have seemingly refused to sign, despite a number setting aside funds for remediation and signing the original pledge.
Levelling up secretary Michael Gove told MPs: “Those developers who have been invited to sign the remediation contract, but who have not agreed to live up to their responsibilities, will not be eligible to join the responsible actors scheme. They will not be able to commence new developments in England or receive building control approval for work already under way.”
He added that officials were in discussions with “several” who were likely to sign, but he was “concerned that some companies do not appreciate the grave nature of the responsibility they bear”.
Gove said he would be writing to major investors in those firms “to explain the commercial implications of their directors’ current decisions”. He will also write to local authorities to instruct them to refuse or halt those developers’ projects.
However, he indicated that a little more time would be granted to allow developers a change of heart. “I want to allow some of the 11 who have not yet signed a little leeway to ensure that they live up to their responsibilities,” he said.
The contract, which follows on from the pledge developers were obliged to sign last year, legally obliges developers to pay for remediation and building safety works. It requires developers to:
• Take responsibility for all necessary work to address life-critical fire-safety defects arising from design and construction of buildings 11 metres and over in height that they developed or refurbished over the last 30 years in England.
• Keep residents in those buildings informed on progress towards meeting this commitment.
• Reimburse taxpayers for funding spent on remediating their buildings.
Gove said: “Those with ultimate responsibility for those buildings should bear the cost of remediation. Innocent leaseholders, who are neither responsible for safety defects nor equipped with the resources to fix the problem, should not be on the hook. Those who are responsible must pay.
“By signing the contracts, those developers have committed to fixing at least 1,100 buildings. They will invest more than £2bn in that work.”
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