Gove turns on suppliers as 35 developers sign safety pledge

Aaron Morby 3 years ago
Share

Levelling up minister Michael Gove has blasted cladding and insulation manufacturers over their failure to commit to paying for post-Grenfell safety measures on buildings.

Levelling-up minister Michael Gove says he will now use powers to penalise manufacturers
Levelling-up minister Michael Gove says he will now use powers to penalise manufacturers

He has now committed to use all his powers to impose “significant commercial and reputational consequences’ for those firms that have failed to step up.

Gove issued his warning in a strongly-worded letter to industry trade body, the Construction Products Association.

Talks with the trade body have collapsed after Gove slammed it for ‘coming up with excuses to do nothing slowly’.

His letter comes as the Department for Levelling-up revealed that 35 house builders had now signed the Government pledge to fund cladding and building fire safety upgrades as a matter of urgency. (see list below)

This means developers will spend around £2bn upgrading their own developments and pay an extra £3bn into Governemnt coffers through the new building safety levy on residential development.

Gove has now written to the CPA demanding to know why relevant manufacturers have failed to follow the house builders’ lead.

“In January, I asked property developers and construction product manufacturers to make a public funding commitment by early March, he writes.

“Unlike the approach taken by developers, manufacturers have failed to make any such commitment. This is simply not good enough.”

Recognising an earlier response from CPA chief executive Peter Capelhorn, he continues: “Your letter proposes several reasons why making such commitments would be challenging or require years of preparatory work.

“Leaseholders do not have the luxury of waiting years for every building to be assessed before funding is committed, and five years on from the Grenfell Tragedy, there is little in your letter to suggest that manufacturers are ready to show leadership and play their part in bringing this unacceptable situation to an end.”

“The scale of this injustice should have spurred manufacturers into doing more, at speed, and it is disappointing that the sector appears instead to be using it as an excuse to do nothing, slowly,” says Gove.

“It is unacceptable that there has been no clear acknowledgement that actions taken by cladding and insulation manufacturers have contributed to the problem, and that manufacturers have individually and collectively failed to come forward with a proposal for playing their part in addressing it.

“As such, I now consider our negotiations to have concluded. I have instructed my officials to do whatever it takes to make sure that construction product manufacturers are held to account through the powers that I am establishing in the Building Safety Bill.

“My new recovery unit will pursue firms that have failed to do the right thing, including through the courts.

“I will consider carefully how to use other powers at my disposal to make sure that there are significant commercial and reputational consequences for those firms that have not stepped up.”

Developers that have agreed to building safety pledge


  • Avant
  • Ballymore
  • Barratt
  • Bellway
  • Berkeley
  • Bewley
  • Bloor
  • Cala
  • Churchill Retirement
  • CG Fry
  • Countryside
  • Crest Nicholson*
  • Croudace
  • Davidsons
  • Fairview
  • Gleeson
  • Hill Group
  • Jelson
  • Keepmoat Homes
  • Tilia
  • Lioncourt Homes
  • London Square
  • Lovell
  • Mactaggart & Mickel
  • McCarthy & Stone
  • Miller Homes
  • Morris Homes
  • Persimmon
  • Redrow
  • Rowland Homes
  • Strata
  • St Modwen
  • Taylor Wimpey
  • Vistry Partnership
  • Wainhomes
  • William Davis

*Signalled intent

 

Latest news

Developer Ghelamco swaps to self delivery for Battersea tower

John F Hunt no longer part of project team on 24-storey resi scheme
3 hours ago

Tax-row tunnellers down tools on Balfour Hinkley job

Lodge allowance tax dispute hits tunnelling site
6 hours ago

Go-ahead for Square Mile’s fifth tallest tower

Multiplex set to start 99 Bishopsgate job late next year
15 hours ago

New £4.5bn funding model for stalled London rail schemes

Residential TIF funding offers key to unlock Bakerloo and DLR extensions
6 hours ago

Speedy Hire latest to be hit by slow CP7 rail spending

Plant-hire firm flags issues with latest Network Rail spending round
6 hours ago

FM Conway family chair steps away from business after Vinci deal

Joanne Conway steps away as Andrew Hansen becomes MD
5 hours ago

Manchester Hotspur Press mill scheme rescued

37-storey student tower will now go-ahead
6 hours ago

Watkin Jones to advance 260-room London aparthotel

Development deal for New Kent Road project
3 days ago

Plan for film studios switched to data centre cluster

Plans in for six data centre buildings in Buckinghamshire
4 days ago

Hunt for firm to deliver £75m Cambridge Civic Quarter

Work includes £41m Guildhall and £21m Corn Exchange revamps
3 days ago

Plans in for £200m Middlesbrough regen scheme

Wates is lined up to deliver landmark Gresham rental homes scheme
3 days ago

£600m Bristol shopping centre redevelopment approved

Galleries centre will be demolished for homes and offices quarter
3 days ago

Ant Yapi lands ultra prime London homes job

Prestige scheme replicates Regency mansions around nearby Regent’s Park
3 days ago

CITB survives another review

Report published after two more years talking about skills crisis
4 days ago

Strucktor wins record M&E package from Ardmore

Major subcontract on £240m Tribeca life science development
3 days ago

Over 800 high-rise resi jobs stalled by safety regulator

Building safety regulator project logjam hits Government growth plan
4 days ago

McAlpine under fire after another panel comes loose from hotel

High winds cause more problems at recently completed Woking hotel
5 days ago

McGee starts demolition for £500m South Bank scheme

Former ITV studios will be replaced by two office towers
4 days ago

Four arrested after hospital construction site burglary

Damage and copper wiring stolen at Hinckley and District General Hospital new building
5 days ago

Caddick kicks off Digbeth regen plan with £43m flats job

First phase 211 flats job starts wider £260m Upper Trinity Street scheme
4 days ago

Sisk starts work on £300m Children’s Cancer Centre

Great Ormond Street Hospital job will employ 500 on site and last three years
4 days ago

McAlpine clinches £1.25bn Port Talbot low carbon steelworks job

Deal to build one of the largest electric arc furnaces in the world
6 days ago

McLaren to build top-down on £60m New Bond Street contract

Contractor working to tight technical guidelines on busy Mayfair site
5 days ago

Project delays dull Van Elle first-half results

Piling specialist upbeat about year ahead as order book up 24%
5 days ago

Aggregate Industries appoints new contracting chief

Kevin Murgatroyd promoted to new role
5 days ago

Bouygues wins Immingham £170m import jetty job

French civils firm to build bulk ammonia import facility for hydrogen economy
6 days ago

Plans in for latest phase of Leith port revamp

Construction to start this year on transforming waterfront
5 days ago

Avant Homes starts redundancy consultation

Jobs under threat at Central region
6 days ago

Plans in for Barnet leisure park and 1500 homes

Regal to redevelop Great North Leisure Park in Finchley
6 days ago

JRL wins shell and core for £400m London scheme

220 Blackfriars Road project will rise to 21 and 15 storeys
7 days ago

Contractor services