The Building Safety Levy, the tax introduced to fund the removal of unsafe cladding from homes, has been delayed after warnings it could hamper house building plans. Initially planned to be introduced later this year, the Ministry for Housing said it now be introduced from Autumn 2026.
With a stated ambition to stimulate house building, the government has introduced a number of measures in recent weeks to reform planning, reduce barriers to development and incentivise new builds. The delay to the introduction of the tax comes after developers warned it could increase buildings costs and divert investment away from new developments as builders seek to comply with the requirements of the levy.
Speaking to LBC, Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook said the government was still committed to the introduction of the levy.
“The previous government left us with an unpalatable inheritance in that respect, We’ve got to increase the pace of works being done. Leaseholders are still trapped in these buildings.”
A report by the Public Accounts Committee published last week raised concerns the work to remediate affected building wouldn’t hit its 2029 targets. The report highlighted the same concerns that the cost of the Building Safety Levy to developers may also reduce the supply of affordable housing; also flagging workforce shortages, the dual ambition of building 1.5m new homes in this Parliament, and delivering on cladding remediation places huge pressure on developers
In a letter to Deputy Prime Minster Angela Rayner developers said the ability of the construction industry to deliver on the 1.5m new homes is being ‘threatened by the imposition of new taxes.’ £5.1bn has already been set aside to tackle cladding remediation, with the remainder to come from developers, building owners and social housing providers. Housebuilders say they are already paying £6.5bn towards improving building safety through corporation tax and argue makers of unsafe cladding should bear more of the costs.
Welcoming the delay Neil Jefferson, chief executive of the Home Builders Federation said
“As proposed it will add thousands of pounds to the cost of new homes, threatening the viability of sites across swathes of the country at a time when industry is striving to reverse the decline in homebuilding numbers that we have seen in recent years.”
adding the ‘grossly unfair’ tax should be scrapped altogether.
A Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government spokesperson said:
“This government is determined to make Britain’s homes safer by making developers pay their fair share to fix unsafe buildings through the Building Safety Levy. We have extended the timeline to give developers more time to factor levy costs into their plans while continuing to support them to build safe homes, and at the same time we are continuing to work quickly to fix buildings with unsafe cladding through our Remediation Acceleration Plan.”
One Response
It’s bizarre how the government continue to protect developers just so that ‘targets’ are met. They continue to allow shoddy unsafe homes to be built and flogged – conveyancers relying on documents signing the buildings/properties off on face value as being safe. No one questioning the mountains of legalese put into transfers of freeholds and new leases. It’s about time the lawyers started stamping their feet down and protecting the public. Stop trying to brush building safety issues under the carpet in favour of “digitisation”. The human problems still exist and are not going away.