Gove targets cladding and insulation manufacturers for remediation contribution

Cladding and insulation manufacturers are being asked to contribute towards the £4 billion costs of remediating high rise buildings affected by safety defects.

Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has written to the Construction Products Association to ask cladding and insulation manufacturers to make a contribution the costs of remedying the post-Grenfell Tower building safety crisis.

In the letter, the Secretary of State says that innocent leaseholders should not be landed with bills to remove cladding products from their buildings they had no reason to suspect were dangerous. He goes on to ask cladding and insulation manufacturers to agree to make financial contributions this year and in subsequent years to fund remediation of unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings.

The move is alongside the financial contributions the Secretary of State has requested separately from the residential property developer industry to cover cost to remediate unsafe cladding on 11-18 metre buildings, currently estimated to be £4 billion.

Mr Gove also wants manufacturers to provide comprehensive information on all buildings over 11m which have historic fire-safety defects to which these companies have supplied products or services.

The Secretary of State claims that three big cladding and insulation firms have made over £700m profit since the Grenfell tragedy. He goes on to say that the sector must pay their fair share to fix the crisis they contributed to. The government will take action if they don’t.