Housing Secretary Michael Gove
(Picture: REUTERS)The Government has won its battle to get developers to pay to fix cladding on three decades worth of buildings.
Five of the top 10 British builders have now signed up to a new fire-safety pledge that commits them to remove dangerous cladding from buildings built in the past 30 years, with the rest expected to confirm this week.
Redrow today became the latest to sign up to Housing Secretary Michael Gove’s Building Safety Pledge, which was put forward in January.
The industry has been told to contribute £4 billion to repair unsafe buildings between 11 and 18 metres tall. Gove has threatened legal action if companies fail to comply.
Redrow follows rivals Berkeley, Crest Nicholson, Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey, which all signed up on Tuesday.
Smaller builder MJ Gleeson also signed the pledge today and said it will complete assessments on 15 buildings by the end of June.
Redrow’s bill for repair work will hit £200 million. It had already earmarked £34 million for fire safety works but has now put aside a further £164 million.
Crest Nicholson said its bill will be £120 million, Persimmon set aside £75 million while Taylor Wimpey estimated its work would cost £245 million.
Of the developers yet to commit, Britain’s biggest housebuilder Barratt has bought back faulty homes and said it is working "constructively" with the government to finalise its approach but earlier this year estimated the cost at up to £220 million.
Bellway Homes said: “We are engaging with the Government with respect to their objective to address more widespread and historical life-critical fire safety issues.” Last week it increased its provision for fire safety by £22.1 million to £186.8 million.
Bellway Homes said: “We are engaging with the Government with respect to their objective to address more widespread and historical life-critical fire safety issues.” Last week increased its provision for fire safety by £22.1 million to £186.8 million.
Vistry has said that “the remediation costs of cladding and fire safety should not be borne by leaseholders” and last month estimated fixing faulty buildings could cost it up to £75 million.
Countryside has said it is "fully-supportive of finding a solution" and has set aside £41 million to fix 20 developments built between 2008 and 2017.
Developers are being asked to fork out tens of millions each to ensure there are no repeats of the Grenfell tragedy which killed 72 people in 2017. Gove’s hardline approach to the problem contrasts sharply with predecessor Robert Jenrick.
Vistry CEO Greg Fitzgerald told the Standard in January that house builders were an “an easy target” and others in the industry should be asked to contribute to the costs.
MJ Gleeson boss James Thomson said today: “Leaseholders should not have to pay for any costs associated with life-critical fire safety issues.”
Redrow similarly said: “We believe the financial burden should not be borne by leaseholders.”
It said it will “work with leaseholders” to remediate their buildings and “pursue recoveries” from main contractors, warranty providers and other third parties.
The majority of Redrow’s high-rise apartment blocks were built between 2000 and 2010 in response to “the Governments Planning Policy Guidance 3 which encouraged high-density living”.
It said fixing buildings is “expected to take a number of years to complete.”
Aynsley Lammin of Investec said the fresh provision would “not have any material impact” on Redrow’s “planned completions over the next few years” and would not impact dividends.
