Agreement reached with developers to fund building safety repairs

The government has today revealed a wide-ranging agreement that will see industry contribute £5bn to address the building safety crisis.

Major homebuilders accounting for half of new homes have pledged to fix all unsafe tall buildings they have had a role in developing.

More than £2bn has been committed by over 35 developers to tackle building safety, with an extension to the Building Safety Levy raising a further estimated £3bn to address safety concerns and protect leaseholders.

For the companies yet to make the pledge, the Secretary of State has also confirmed there is little time left for them to sign up, and that those who continue to refuse will face consequences if they fail to do so.

The new agreement will become legally enforceable, requiring the UK’s biggest developers to fix all buildings over 11 metres tall that they have played a role in developing in the last 30 years.

As set out in January, a new government scheme will also see industry pay to fix buildings where those responsible cannot be identified or forced to in law.

Levelling Up Secretary 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 pledge published by government today commits developers who have signed up to legally binding contracts, and to implement their promises as soon as possible.

The detailed agreement confirms developers will:

• 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 on how the government plans to enforce the agreement in law is expected in due course.

Photo by Jimmy Chang