Levelling up secretary, Michael Gove, has called upon manufacturers and informed them that they must make financial contributions this year and in subsequent years to fund the remediation of unsafe cladding on residential buildings of 11 to 18 metres.
Gove said: “The total contribution from the cladding and insulation sector must represent a significant portion of the total remediation costs, caused by the dangerous products sold by some of your members." and noted the current estimated cost of cladding remediation on buildings of 11 to 18 metres to be £4 billion – the amount developers have been ordered to pay following Gove’s letter earlier this month to the housebuilding industry. The current estimated cost of remediating buildings of more than 18 metres is £5.1 billion.
Last week, Gove met with HBF and 20 major housebuilders to discuss the fund, with the housebuilders stressing that any contribution should be fair and that all parties involved need to contribute.
Stewart Baseley, HBF executive chairman, said after the meeting: “We are keen to see the discussions widened out to include other bodies, not least freeholders and the materials providers who designed, tested and sold materials that developers purchased in good faith.”
Now, as with developers, cladding and insulation manufacturers have been given until early March to work with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) to reach a funding agreement, involving an “appropriate contribution from the sector”.
In his letter, Gove warned that “I am prepared to do whatever it takes to deliver our objective”, including using the existing regulatory framework “to limit any culpable company from operating and selling products in this country in the future” and added that he would pursue those responsible for building defects “who are unwilling to do the right thing now”.
The manufacturing industry’s funding proposals, Gove wrote, must include comprehensive information on all buildings of more than 11 metres with historic fire safety defects “to which these companies have supplied products or services”.
Gove stated: “The range of past practices in the industry – across its approach to manufacturing, marketing and testing – has rightly been a source of huge concern to parliament and the public.
“I am offering a window of opportunity, between now and March, for the sector to work with my department through open and transparent negotiations to agree a settlement that will restore confidence and secure an appropriate contribution from the sector”.
