The government has launched its Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS) requiring residential developers to pay for building safety remediation work.
Developers asked to join the scheme will have 60 days to respond to the invitation. Failure to join or comply with the membership conditions will result in a government prohibition from carrying out major development and securing building control approval.
Members of the scheme will be required to pay for the remediation of life-critical fire safety defects in residential buildings of 11m and above that they developed or refurbished over the past 30 years.
The scheme aims to improve the safety and standard of buildings by preventing developers from starting new projects or completing existing ones if they are not remediating affected buildings in their portfolio.
‘Only responsible developers welcome here’
Developers invited to join RAS were previously required to demonstrate their commitment by signing a developer remediation contract. As of 25 July, only two companies remain on the list of developers that have not signed the contract, including the lead contractor of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment.
Housing secretary Michael Gove threatened in January to put out of business those developers that did not sign the contract, a claim he repeated later in parliament.
“To those developers that have failed to sign the contract without good reason, let me be very clear – we are coming after you,” Gove said. “If you do not sign, you will not be able to operate freely in the housing market. Your investors will see that your business model is broken – only responsible developers are welcome here.”
