Dandara to sign safety contract "imminently" after being named by Gove

Wednesday 15 March 2023

Developer Dandara has said it will sign a UK government contract "imminently" after being named as one of 11 firms who had not yet committed to repair homes with safety risks exposed by the Grenfell Tower fire.

The company - which is one of Jersey’s largest developers - said it had pledged to sign the contract at the end of last month but the signing had been delayed because it had not been part of the original consultation.

This week, UK Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said that 39 firms had signed the contract, which would see them spending £2 billion to pay for repairs to buildings with unsafe cladding and other issues.

But Mr Gove told Members of Parliament: “Some regrettably have not.”

He added that the 11 non-signatories had a week to sign or face being banned from building new homes in England.

He said: "Those companies will be out of the housebuilding business in England entirely unless and until they change their course. Next week I will publish key features of our new 'responsible actors' scheme.”

A Dandara spokesman told Express: "Dandara signed the Developers' Pledge Letter just over two weeks ago and we anticipate signing the Developer Remediation Contract imminently.

"Unfortunately, Dandara was not invited into any of the original consultations, undertaken by Government with the UK’s 50 biggest housebuilding and development companies, which has delayed the process."

Under the contract, those who live in buildings between 11m and 18.5m high will not have to pay for the removal of dangerous cladding under the plans devised by Mr Gove. 

In place of loans taken out by leaseholders, the UK government will attempt to secure up to £4 billion from developers towards the costs.

After the Grenfell fire, which killed 72 people in 2017, flammable cladding and other fire safety defects were discovered in hundreds of blocks of flats across the UK.

CLICK TO READ: The UK government's letter to developers asking them to sign the contract in January.

While the UK government has pledged to pay to remove unsafe cladding from taller buildings, many buildings remain at risk.

Although Dandara builds offices, flats and houses in Jersey, it is predominately a housebuilding business in the Isle of Man, Wales, Scotland and England.

The UK fire safety contract is not relevant to homes in Jersey, but Dandara said it would apply the same terms, were it to be an issue locally.