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Persimmon Homes has become the first housebuilder to sign the Scottish Government’s developer remediation contract, pledging to carry out and fund cladding remediation works on buildings it is responsible for.
The contract commits developers to assess safety issues, repair life-critical fire safety defects on buildings taller than 11 metres built or refurbished in Scotland over the past 30 years, and keep residents informed of progress.
The deadline to provide building lists is 30 days from contract signing.
This mirrors similar legal agreements made with developers in England and Wales to accelerate remediation of buildings with potentially unsafe cladding.
Last October, the Scottish Government invited nine developers to sign the remediation pledge, targeting firms with average annual profits exceeding £10m.
Besides Persimmon, the other eight firms are:
- Miller Homes
- Cala Group
- Barratt Developments
- Springfield Properties
- Taylor Wimpey
- Lovell Partnerships
- Keepmoat Limited
- Bellway
Housing secretary Màiri McAllan described Persimmon’s signature as “a positive step forward in making relevant buildings safer”.
She added that she hopes other developers would follow Persimmon’s lead, saying that signatories would also be expected to repay taxpayers where public money has already been spent remediating private buildings.
Persimmon Homes regional chair John Roocroft said the company had taken “a proactive, industry-leading approach to building safety” and was already making progress on its remediation programme.
The developer remediation contract stems from the 2023 Scottish Safer Buildings Accord and follows the passage of the Housing (Cladding Remediation) (Scotland) Act 2024.
Ministers have powers under the Act to introduce a responsible developers scheme to enforce industry compliance with cladding safety requirements.