More firms sign post-Grenfell safety contract, says Gove

Michael Gove said more companies have signed up to post-Grenfell building safety contracts after he named and shamed some of the firms earlier this month that had not signed up to the agreement.

The Communities Secretary had given companies until March 13 to sign up to the agreement aimed at addressing cladding issues following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, confirming earlier this month that 39 developers had signed contracts committing £2 billion to fund repairs to high-rise buildings which have unsafe cladding or other fire safety defects.

In a written statement to MPs on Friday, Mr Gove said four of the 11 companies he had called out had now decided to sign the remediation contracts.

“At the time of my statement of March 14, 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 four of those 11 companies have since signed the contract: Ballymore, Lendlease, London Square and Telford Homes.”

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities confirmed that Inland Homes also signed up to the contract on Friday.

Mr Gove said some of the companies that have not yet signed “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”.

The responsible actors scheme, Mr Gove said, will initially focus on “larger residential property developers and developers who developed multiple tall residential buildings known to have life-critical fire safety defects”.

He said that, over time, it would expand to “cover even more of those who developed unsafe 11m+ residential buildings and should pay to fix them”.