With Galliard Homes added to the list of signatories on 4th April and Emerson Group (parent company of Jones Homes) on 5th April, only Abbey Developments, Avant Homes, Dandara and Rydon Homes are left facing being banned from getting any more planning permission or building control approval.
Michael Gove, secretary of state at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities, wrote to developers on 30th January giving them a deadline of 13th March to sign the contract. Thirty-nine companies met the deadline, five more signed the following week. At the end of March, Gove then set out plans for a ‘responsible actors scheme’ (RAS) for residential developers under sections 126-129 of the Building Safety Act 2022. Those who did not sign the remediation contract would not be eligible, and would therefore not be able to get planning permission or building control approval – effectively barred from buildings works.
Avant Homes, controlled by former Persimmon chief executive Jeff Fairburn, has been in discussions with the department for several weeks but has yet to be persuaded to sign.
Rydon Homes insists that it should be considered outside the scope of the contract.
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