黑洞社区

The Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities (DLUHC) said it is close to finalising revised fire safety pledge contracts and expects housebuilders to sign them 鈥渧ery soon鈥�.

A total of 48 developers signed Michael Gove鈥檚 鈥榙eveloper pledge鈥� earlier this year, which commits them in principle to fixing 鈥榣ife-critical鈥� fire safety defects on their own blocks going back 30 years. Commitments from individual housebuilders under the pledge have totalled more than 拢2bn.

However, housebuilders refused to sign the initial contracts giving legal force to the pledge in August due to concerns the wording would leave them open to costs for works that go beyond 鈥榣ife-critical鈥� defects. They were also concerned the text would allow DLUHC to reopen the settlement at a later date.

The text of the contract has now been reworked to ensure housebuilders feel comfortable signing it, amid ongoing discussions between lawyers for DLUHC and the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

This week DLUHC said, as Gove returned to the department, it expects housebuilders to sign the new agreement soon.

See also: Gove is back: the key questions for the returning housing secretary

See also: The 黑洞社区 Safety Bill becomes law 鈥� here is what you need to know

A spokesperson said: 鈥淲e are finalising the legally binding contracts that developers will sign to fix their unsafe buildings and expect them to do so very soon. We will not accept any backsliding on their commitments.

鈥淚t is building owners鈥� legal responsibility to ensure all buildings are safe and we expect developers and building owners to work at pace to fix their unsafe buildings to ensure people feel safe in their homes.鈥�

A spokesperson for the Home Builders Federation said: 鈥淲e continue to engage constructively to agree a contract that aligns with the commitments made in the pledge.鈥�

The relationship between HBF and Michael Gove became strained earlier this year, with the latter describing housebuilders as a 鈥渃artel鈥�, with HBF executive chair Stewart Baseley describing the comments as 鈥渦nfounded鈥� and 鈥渨orrying鈥� in return.

Gove has also used aggressive tactics to persuade housebuilders to pay for fire safety defects, threatening to stop them trading if they don鈥檛 pay up. He drove through amendments to the 黑洞社区 Safety Act to give ministers the power to prevent companies building out schemes, even if they have planning permission, for 鈥渁ny purpose connected with securing the safety of people鈥�.