Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and
Minister for Intergovernmental Relations (The ): On 14 March, I announced that 39
developers had signed the developer remediation contract. By
signing the contract, they made binding commitments to fix or pay
to fix life-critical fire safety defects in all buildings in
England over 11 metres that they had a role in developing or
refurbishing over the past 30 years. This amounts to an
irreversible commitment to making safe at least 1,100 buildings
at a cost of over £2 billion.
Update on Responsible Actors Scheme
Last week, I also told the House that there will be consequences
for companies that do not sign the contract. I warned that they
will be prohibited from commencing developments in England or
gaining building control sign-off on their developments, unless
they sign and adhere to the contract. I said that we will lay
regulations this Spring to establish a Responsible Actors Scheme.
The regulations will recognise the positive action of responsible
developers and will make sure that eligible developers who do not
sign and comply with the contract will be unable to be members of
the Scheme, and therefore be subject to prohibitions. I will lay
regulations that will, with Parliament’s consent, bring the
Scheme into operation before the Summer Recess.
Today, I am publishing the key features of the Responsible Actors
Scheme on GOV.UK and placing a copy of the information in the
libraries of both Houses. The key features document sets out how
the Scheme will work, the likely eligibility criteria and
membership conditions for the first phase of the Scheme, how
developers will apply to join the Scheme and the prohibitions
that will be imposed on eligible developers that fail to sign the
contract and comply with its terms.
Developers who want to be part of the Scheme will need to sign
the developer remediation contract and comply with its terms. In
its first phase, the Scheme will focus on larger residential
property developers and developers who developed multiple tall
residential buildings known to have life-critical fire safety
defects. Over time, I intend to expand the Scheme to cover even
more of those who developed unsafe 11m+ residential buildings and
should pay to fix them.
Eligible developers will be invited to join the Scheme by a
statutory deadline or provide evidence that they do not in fact
meet the eligibility criteria. Any eligible developer who chooses
not to join the Scheme, or who is expelled from the Scheme as a
result of a material or persistent breach of its conditions, will
be added to a list of developers who will not be permitted to
carry out major development or secure building control sign-offs.
The message to those developers who have yet to sign the
contract, their shareholders and investors could not be clearer.
The Responsible Actors Scheme is coming. Only developers who
behave responsibly will be trusted to build the homes of the
future. Any eligible developers who fail to do the right thing
will need to find a new line of work.
Update on signatories to the developer remediation contract
At the time of my statement of 14 March, 11 developers had yet to
sign. I named those companies and called on their directors to
reflect on their future and do the right thing. Today, I can
confirm that 4 of those 11 companies have since signed the
contract: Ballymore, Lendlease, London Square and Telford Homes.
The 7 developers who have yet to sign the contract are: Abbey
Developments, Avant, Dandara, Emerson Group (Jones Homes),
Galliard Homes, Inland Homes and Rydon Homes. Some of those
companies have told us that they remain committed to protecting
leaseholders and taxpayers from having to pay, and claim that
they will sign the contract in coming days.
As I made plain last week, I will write to local authorities and
building inspectors to explain the consequences for those
companies that remain non-signatories at the point that the
regulations creating the Responsible Actors Scheme come into
force. I will suggest action that local authorities may want to
take to be prepared for implementation of the scheme, to ensure
that any companies that do not wish to act responsibly do not
profit from that behaviour – and that the public is protected as
a result.
Given possible market sensitivities, I notified the London Stock
Exchange about the key features document.
