Grenfell contractor company among 11 facing ‘ban’ on building for failure to sign remediation pledge

Michael Gove, the housing secretary, had issued all major builders with a six-week ultimatum to sign contracts agreeing to pay for the removal of unsafe materials on properties taller than 11 metres that they had developed.

Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Mr Gove said his promised Responsible Actors Scheme would be published next week, which would mean those that have not signed can no longer build homes in England. 

“Those companies will be out of the housebuilding business in England entirely unless and until they change their course,” he said.

“They will not be able to commence new developments in England or receive building control approval for work that is already underway.”

Asked when this sanction would take effect, Mr Gove said details of the scheme would be provided next week. He added: “I want to allow some of the 11 who have not yet signed a little bit of leeway in order to ensure that they live up to their responsibilities. 

“The letters that I’ve written to the directors of the companies concerned, I think, will help to concentrate their minds in order to ensure that they have a chance to sign before we [introduce the provisions].”

He said that officials were in “discussions with several [among the 11 that had not signed] who are making progress towards signing”. 

However, he added: “I am concerned that some companies do not appreciate the grave nature of the responsibility that they bear.

“I’ll be writing to major investors in these firms to explain the commercial implications of the directors’ current decisions. I’ll write to local authorities and building inspectors to explain these developers’ projects may not be started or signed off.”

Responding to a later question, he explained that work on site for any ongoing projects would have to pause. “We will make sure their shareholders and their investors pay the price for the responsibility of their directors,” he said.

Singling out Galliard, after a question from Clive Efford, the Labour MP for Eltham, Mr Gove said: “Galliard is one of the companies that have been the most recalcitrant throughout.Other companies have done the right thing and they’ve done so with a willing heart, but Galliard have held out, they’ve briefed against the department and all the rest of it. 

“So now it will be the case that unless they sign, Galliard will face those consequences and their business model will be fundamentally challenged by the legislation that we have passed in this house. 

“So ultimately, if you have a company like Galliard, whose owners, directors and investors are determined not to play ball, then the consequences will come. 

“And I want to be clear with the honourable member and clear with this house that Galliard will be facing consequences if they do not act.”

Galliard is a major developer, particularly in London, describing itself as the city’s “leading property developer”. According to its website it has 6,905 homes under development and a pause in its developments would have major consequences for the industry in the capital. 

It has numerous developments which have required remediation work, such as New Capital Quay in Greenwich.

The list from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) also revealed 39 developers did meet the deadline, including 10 listed house builders that publicly declared yesterday.

Mr Gove said these agreements would cover 1,100 buildings and represented £2bn in remediation work. Some of this will be paid back to the taxpayer, where public money has already been spent on safety works. 

However, this means the scheme only represents a small fraction of an estimated 10,000 buildings which will require work. 

Lisa Nandy, the shadow housing secretary, said: “It clearly only deals with a fraction of the problem. How does he plan to assess leaseholders in buildings with defects outside of the scope of the contract to get them remediated?”

She added: “The remediation remains painfully slow… the contract only stipulates that repairs and remediation must be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable. So can I push him again for hard timescales and deadlines on this.”

Mr Gove said that quarterly statistics on the remediation work and the progress towards completion would be released. 

Asked whether more support would be offered to social housing providers, which have contributed an estimated £6bn – raised from tenants’ rents– to remediate buildings they own, Mr Gove said: “I’ve been in conversations with the chancellor of the exchequer about what more we can do in order to support the social housing sector. How richly those conversations bear fruit, we’ll have to see.”

Asked whether steps would be taken to hold the manufacturers of dangerous products, which have yet to pay a penny towards building safety remediation, to account, Mr Gove replied: “We have been pursuing individual construction product companies but, of course, our actions have to take into account the actions of others who’ve been pursuing them for criminal activity and liability.”

All developers named in the DLUHC’s list have been approached for comment. 

Four other developers, Davidsons, Mactaggart & Mickel, Robertson and Wain Homes, had signed the original pledge but later found out they had no buildings within the contract’s scope.