Building safety

Housebuilder Vistry has blamed second staircase regulations and extended liability for building safety for an increase in its fire safety remediation provisions. The housebuilder said it received 41 new claims from building owners over the course of 2024, which prompted a £117.1m increase in provisions. In its accounts for the…

The rates that clients will be charged under the Building Safety Levy have been published for each local authority area - but implementation has been delayed for a year. The government today published details of how the levy on all new homes and student accommodation – aimed at raising £3.4bn…

The government is complacent about construction sector capacity shortages that risk undermining its plans to remediate dangerous cladding in England, MPs have said. A new report from parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released today (21 March) said far too many people were trapped in unsafe homes, facing financial uncertainty and…

A Wates joint venture (JV) has rejigged its approach to kickstarting a 1,380-home estate regeneration project in Essex after fire safety rules delayed progress on plans for tall buildings. The contractor-developer, along with its JV partner Havering Council, is currently redesigning high-rise buildings on the Waterloo Estate regeneration project in…

The head of the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) has warned that the construction industry still has “a long way to go” to change its culture and processes amid “serious failings” in the system for approving higher-risk buildings (HRBs). Philip White (pictured) told MPs this morning (18 March) that he was…

A residential block on the South Coast has been evacuated after “serious fire safety concerns” were raised. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Rescue Service said it was told on 21 February there could be “immediate risks to resident safety” in the event of a blaze at Sundowner Court on…

Housebuilder Persimmon expects to spend more than £200m extra to remediate its remaining buildings of dangerous cladding, it revealed in its annual accounts released today (11 March). Persimmon made a provision of £235m for building safety remediation at the end of December 2024, according to its latest annual accounts. It…

A High Court ruling has denied a housebuilder access to details of a contractor’s sister companies’ assets before liability is decided in an £85m building defects case. A judge last week ruled that three Ardmore companies do not have to surrender financial information and other documents to BDW Trading, Barratt…

The government faces significant hurdles to using the Procurement Act to ban Grenfell-linked firms from public sector contracts, according to legal experts. Last week, the government said that seven firms would be investigated for a complete debarment from public contracts using “new powers” under the Procurement Act, which itself came…

Dr Bernard Rimmer, construction commentator Angela Rayner announced last week that there will be further investigations into the roles of seven participants in the Grenfell tragedy, possibly leading to debarring them from work in the public sector. But she did not announce a clear plan to deal with the industry’s…