HOME developers who refuse to pay the costs of removing unsafe cladding could have planning permission and projects blocked under government plans.
New powers would also allow cladding companies to be sued and subject to fines for defective products.
The proposed measures are part of a Building Safety Bill following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017.
People who are currently facing bills of thousands of pounds to fix their homes welcomed the move.
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said it was “time to bring this scandal to an end”.
“We cannot allow those who do not take building safety seriously to build homes in the future, and for those not willing to play their part they must face consequences,” he said.
The additions to the bill come after Mr Gove announced last month that no leaseholder living in a building higher than 11m – around four to six storeys high – “will ever face any costs” for fixing dangerous cladding.
He said developers would be expected to pay their fair share to fix dangerous buildings, or face legal or tax changes.
Under the proposed laws, leaseholders would have up to 30 years to sue builders and product manufacturers for defects in England, but there are plans to extend it UK wide. At the moment it is six years.
The courts would also be able to stop developers using “shadowy shell companies”, the government said, “which make them difficult to trace or identify who they are run by, so they can avoid taking responsibility for their actions”.
