Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference Q49 of the evidence given by her Department's Director for Remediation Policy to the Public Accounts Committee on 3 February 2025, HC 362, what estimate she has made of the number of buildings for which her Department has forced a developer to comply with a scope of remedial works using mechanisms in the developer remediation contract.

The developer remediation contract and the associated Responsible Actors Scheme includes provisions to make sure that signatory developers comply with their obligation to carry out remedial works that comply with the standard set out in the contract.

The Ministry regularly commissions independent audits of assessments obtained by developers. Where a developer's assessment or remedial works do not meet the required standard, the developer is obligated to go back and address any issues at its own expense.

If a developer fails to comply with its obligations and fails to take sufficient action to come back into compliance, the developer may be found to be in breach of contract and where applicable may have planning and building control prohibitions imposed on it. While using those prohibitions has not proved necessary to date, the Ministry is ready to do so if needed.

Developers and freeholders often agree a works contract without intervention from the Ministry. In cases where developers and freeholders disagree over the scope of works, we expect the developer to pursue reasonable endeavours to resolve the dispute. In order to support such efforts, we intend shortly to publish guidance on one such dispute-resolution mechanism. Where appropriate, the Ministry may also broker discussions between disputing parties to resolve the impasse so that people's homes can be made safe as quickly as possible.