Writing in the i, Clark said that it would be “available for comment” for four weeks, after which the contracts would be finalised.
Former housing minister Michael Gove, who had been in the role since September and was replaced by Clark last week, secured an agreement with some of the UK’s major housebuilders earlier this year, with around £2bn committed and 45 signatories.
“The faithful translation of these pledges into action is essential to the reputation for dependability that such an important sector of our economy must maintain,” Clark added.
Clark continued that there would be no “backsliding” on the £3bn building safety levy, which will be raised against all qualifying projects in the UK, and developers would pay it, regardless of whether they were homegrown entities or headquartered overseas.
He said the Building Safety Act, which came into force earlier this year, would utilise new tools to pursue businesses who do not deliver on their pledges.
Clark said he had instructed the department’s new Recovery Strategy Unit to target any individuals or companies that “do not step up to do what is required of them”.
He urged large developers who had not yet committed to do the “right thing” and said it was “time to step up and be prepared to pay up”.
“As we identify more developers responsible for fire safety defects in buildings, I expect them to follow suit and take responsibility for repairs – and to do so quickly,” he noted.
Clark said that in the months and years ahead, there was opportunity for “productive partnership” between housebuilders, government, local councils and housing associations.
He added that he wanted to increase housebuilding and the best way to do this was to work with existing home builders, and that a “good working relationship” could “achieve big results”
“A working relationship depends on the efficient discharge of commitments given, without havering after agreements have been made.
“This is true in the normal course of business and policy. In the case of Grenfell, where we have a strong moral obligation to put right the failures that robbed families of the lives of 72 innocent people, that requirement is absolute,” Clark noted.
