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Developers to pay £5bn for building safety repairs
Major developers have agreed to commit £2bn to fix their own buildings and a further £3bn through an expansion of the Building Safety Levy.
Home builders accounting for half of new homes have pledged to fix all unsafe tall buildings they had a role in developing.
The Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said there is little time left for remaining developers to sign up to the agreement.
And those that continue to refuse to pay for remedial costs will “face consequences”.
The new agreement with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) will become legally enforceable, with more than 35 builders agreeing to fix all buildings higher than 11 metres they built in the last 30 years.
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Builders have promised to act as quickly as possible to fix buildings, implement new proportionate guidance on building safety and regularly report to leaseholders and government on their progress.
DLUHC said the agreement is a victory for leaseholders.
A government scheme funded through an extension to the Building Safety Levy will see the industry pay to fix buildings where those responsible cannot be identified or forced to in law.
Gove said: “Today marks a significant step towards protecting innocent leaseholders and ensuring those responsible pay to solve the crisis they helped to cause.
“I welcome the move by many of the largest developers to do the right thing.
“But this is just the beginning. We will do whatever it takes to hold industry to account, and under our new measures there will be nowhere to hide.
“The pledge published by government today commits developers who have signed up to legally binding contracts, and to implement their promises as soon as possible.”