It said: “We share the Secretary of State’s aspiration that leaseholders should not have to pay to remove cladding. Indeed, we made a commitment a year ago that leaseholders in buildings constructed by Persimmon, including all those above 11 metres, should not have to cover the cost of cladding removal.”
Persimmon admitted it had built “only a very small proportion of buildings affected by this issue,” but added, “in common with the rest of the housebuilding industry, we will shortly begin paying the cladding levy announced in the Budget.”
In a House of Commons speech this week, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove gave a fire and brimstone speech putting builders ‘on notice’ that the government would be coming for those who cut corners to save cash. He said a dedicated team had been established in government to review current arrangements and ensure there would be commercial consequences for companies responsible for the cladding crisis but attempting to swerve responsibilities.
It comes after Gove gave developers a March deadline for cladding remediation plans and said that if the industry failed to take responsibility then the government would “impose a solution into law”.
Meanwhile, Persimmon confirmed the completion of 14,551 homes at a projected full-year margin of 28 per cent in 2021 up from 13,575 homes the previous year, ahead of its final results out on 2 March 2022.
Shareholders dividends more than doubled in 2021 to 235p per share up from 110p in 2020.
Dean Finch, group chief executive, said: “Whilst the industry continues to face the ongoing operational and economic challenges as a consequence of the pandemic, particularly as the Omicron outbreak unfolded in the last six weeks of the year, the group continues to manage these ongoing challenges comprehensively. The long-term fundamentals of the UK housing market remain strong and I am confident of Persimmon’s future success.”
The firm’s strategic vertical integration through its Brickworks, Tileworks and Space4 timber frame manufacturing facility has continued to help secure supply of key [building] materials, it confirmed.
See the full trading update here.
