Developer tax to fund unsafe cladding removal

Grant Prior 3 years ago
Share

The government has pledged an extra £3.5bn to fund the removal of unsafe cladding from high rise buildings.

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government will “fully fund the cost of replacing unsafe cladding for all leaseholders in residential buildings 18 metres (6 storeys) and over in England.”

Residents in lower-rise buildings between 11 and 18 metres will “gain new protection from the costs of cladding removal with a generous new scheme.”

This will pay for cladding removal through a long-term, low interest, government-backed “financing arrangement.”

Under the scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding.

A new tax on developers is also being drawn-up to help fund the cladding removal programme.

It will raise at least £2bn and “will ensure that the largest property developers make a fair contribution to the remediation programme, reflecting the benefit they will derive from restoring confidence to the UK housing market.”

The government said it will consult on the policy design in due course before it is introduced next year.

A new developer levy will also “apply when developers seek permission to develop certain high-rise buildings in England.”

Jenrick said: “Our unprecedented intervention means the hundreds of thousands of leaseholders who live in higher-rise buildings will now pay nothing towards the cost of removing unsafe cladding.

“Remedying the failures of building safety cannot just be a responsibility for taxpayers.

“That is why we will also be introducing a levy and tax on developers to contribute to righting the wrongs of the past.”

Developers have reacted angrily to the plan.

Andrew Southern, Chairman of property developer Southern Grove said: “Taxing developers, most of whom weren’t responsible for the cladding crisis, is just laughable.

“Why should a company that has never installed dangerous cladding, and perhaps never built high rise blocks in the past, be tarred with the same brush and penalised when they’re no more responsible for this scandal than those in other sectors building cars, running our hospitals and educating our children?

“This sort of regressive tax will only stagnate housebuilding, which is the exact opposite of what the UK needs.

“By applying it only to the largest developers building the tallest buildings, it will also disincentivise creation of housing in the high density areas that are badly in need of new stock.”

 

Latest news

Morgan Sindall to build former Willmott Dixon leisure job

New contractor appointed on
15 hours ago

Graham consortium wins £400m Manchester job

Equitix consortium to now work up DBFO plans for University of Manchester’s Fallowfield Campus
11 hours ago

Keltbray looking to sell infrastructure business

£378m turnover rail, energy and highways business up for sale
22 hours ago

Innovative viaduct building method used for first time in UK

HS2 contractors will build nine viaducts in Delta Junction using special cantilevered process
22 hours ago

Unite buys London site to fast-track 444-bed student scheme

£800m to be spent on London development pipeline in next five years
22 hours ago

CITB awards £2.5m of contracts to management consultant

Three outsourced deals in the last year for "project leadership and management consultancy"
22 hours ago

Village centre approved for 6,000-home new town plan

Hampshire's Welborne Garden Village plan has been in the pipeline for two decades.
21 hours ago

£3m fine after cherry picker demolition death

Court rules after tragedy during decommissioning of gas rig
22 hours ago

BAM plans wave of job cuts at UK Construction arm

Co-op Live arena plunges Bam Construction to £19.5m first-half loss
2 days ago

Robot tunnel builder goes into administration

Hypertunnel was hoping to revolutionise how underground structures are built
2 days ago

Wates to build £86m Guildford Council housing scheme

40% of the 248 homes will become council homes under partnership deal
2 days ago

“Scrap CITB” say three quarters of construction firms

Payroll giant Hudson Contract calls for CITB to be absorbed into new Skills England training body
2 days ago

£100m Prestwich Village revival approved

Vinci and Willmott Dixon in chase for Muse-led regeneration scheme
2 days ago

Carbon negative asphalt aggregate trialled on M11

Skanska and Tarmac test CO2 absorbing aggregate material on stretch of Essex motorway
2 days ago

Father and son sentenced over covid construction loan fraud

Bristol builders given suspended jail sentences over bogus Bounce Back Loans
2 days ago

Beck Interiors files administration notice

Supply chain has suffered delayed payments from £139m-turnover luxury fit out specialist
3 days ago

Green light for York Central civil service office hub

£60m office project accelerates York Central goods yard redevelopment
3 days ago

Blenheim House Construction enters administration

Administrators looking at options on present projects
3 days ago

Profits rise at Esh Group with more to come

Contractor confident about year ahead as market conditions move in right direction
3 days ago

Piling specialist Van Elle sees housing orders rise 30%

Mark Cutler says firm on course to deliver 10% annual sales growth
3 days ago

HS2 to spend £100m shutting sites where work never started

Remediation of sites no longer needed for cancelled Phase 2 will take three years
4 days ago

Willmott Dixon wins £61m deal for new Army dog unit

Contractor to revamp Kendrew Barracks in Rutland
3 days ago

Stockport advances 4,000-home Town Centre East plan

Council seeks consultants to steer plan for 280-acre area in the city
3 days ago

ISG sale imminent as buyers set-up UK holding company

South African nutrition entrepreneur and Australian partner primed to take over
4 days ago

CR Construction wins £210m Manchester towers

Construction to start next year on four blocks ranging from nine to 34-storeys
4 days ago

Southern Housing to rationalise supply chain following merger

Firms put on alert for £1.7bn construction framework renewal
4 days ago

Decision delayed on 52-storey Isle of Dogs tower

Hong Kong developer plans 460 flats block next to Millwall Inner Dock
4 days ago

Go-ahead for £850m North London estate rebuild

Flagship Edmonton housing estate redevelopment will deliver 2,000 new homes
4 days ago

Mace lands £184m Oxford Science Park contract

Contractor to build trio of laboratory and office buildings
5 days ago

Worker paralysed in 30ft fall during electricity pylon demolition

Specialist firm fined £240,000 after court hears linesman attached lanyard to a loosened steel section
4 days ago

Contractor services