Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey sign up to government’s cladding pledge
Housebuilders Persimmon and Taylor Wimpey have signed the government’s developer pledge to remove unsafe cladding in tower blocks installed within the past three decades.
The pledge commits house builders to fix dangerous cladding and other fire safety issues in buildings over 11 metres.
Taylor Wimpey revealed it was signing up to pledge on Tuesday afternoon, revealing it would inject a further provision of around £80m into remediations.
This would bring the total amount Taylor Wimpey has provided for fire safety remediation works to around £245m.
Taylor Wimpey boss Pete Redfern, said: “Today we confirm that Taylor Wimpey has signed up to the government’s fire safety pledge for developers. Our priority has been to ensure that customers in Taylor Wimpey buildings have a solution to cladding remediation.
“We took early and proactive action, committing significant funding and resources to address fire safety and cladding issues on all Taylor Wimpey affected apartment buildings.”
In an update on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday morning, FTSE 100 firm Persimmon said it would address “life critical” fire safety issues in England on homes developed by the group in the 30 years prior to 5 April.
However, the developer said it believed a previously announced £75m provision set aside for the works “remains appropriate”.
Persimmon group chief executive Dean Finch said: “Over a year ago we said that leaseholders in multi-storey buildings Persimmon constructed should not have to pay for the remediation of cladding and fire related issues. We are pleased to reaffirm this commitment today and sign the government’s developer pledge.
“We made this commitment last year as we believed it was not only fair for leaseholders but also the right thing to do as one of the country’s leading homebuilders. We are pleased that we were able to work constructively with the government to secure this agreement.”
Some 33 developments have been identified by Persimmon as likely to require remediation work, with four having now secured successful External Wall System Fire Review (EWS1) certificates.
A first-take note from Investec said the update was “extremely reassuring and provides very clear visibility around this issue.”
“The group looks well set to continue to deliver its planned completions and make its committed capital returns to shareholders,” the note from analysts added.
London-listed housebuilders gave up some of their gains registered at the start of the week on Tuesday morning. Sentiment had been strengthened following reports the government had dropped demands they pay £4bn toward a cladding remediation fund.
Instead, it has been reported that developers will have to pledge to remediate work on medium-rise buildings and self-fund the repairs.
It comes as FTSE 250 housebuilder Crest Nicholson said it would be hit with an extra £120m bill after it pledged further fire safety repairs.
The developer also announced it was signing up to the government’s pledge, with an estimate that future works would cost between £80 and £120m.
It has previously revealed it has invested some £47.8m for remediation works since the year to the end of October 2019, including a £29m charge announced in January.