Large housebuilders are pledging to address fire safety on buildings – Image from Shutterstock
Housebuilder Barratt has signed an industry pledge to address necessary fire-safety issues on all its buildings of 11 metres and above. It is one of several companies to sign the government-led agreement.
Developers Redrow, Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Crest Nicholson also signed the pledge.
A statement from Barratt said it would “further commit to withdraw our buildings from, and/or reimburse, the Building Safety Fund and ACM Funds”.
It said: "This reflects four years of constructive engagement with government and other stakeholders to address this complex issue."
The “incremental cost of remediating buildings or funding remediation where Barratt is taking responsibility for doing so is in a range of £350 million to £400 million” added the housebuilder.
Since the Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017, building safety, and in particular cladding and external wall systems on multistorey and multi-occupancy buildings, has come under scrutiny and investigation.
Government policy has evolved and been updated frequently in the intervening period while surveyors, lenders and insurers have also made changes to their policies and procedures for dealing with multistorey, multi-occupancy buildings against an uncertain and changing backdrop.
David Thomas, Barratts’ chief executive, said: “We have always been clear that we do not believe leaseholders should pay for remediation of their homes and are committed to helping affected leaseholders living in the buildings we developed. Through constructive engagement between industry and government, a proportionate and sensible approach has been found and we look forward to completing the remediation process as quickly as possible.”
The government is due to publish an official announcement soon.
