Developers given four weeks to finalise cladding pledges 

Clark told i newspaper contracts had gone out to major housebuilders. They have a four-week deadline in which to sign them.

The move comes after the Building Safety Act was passed last month (June). The major reforms mean leaseholders are protected from costs to make their homes safe.

It also saw a pledge from 45 companies agreeing to carry out fire safety remediation work on their own buildings at an estimated cost of £2bn.

Clark said he had sent the contracts to “help turn these pledges into legally binding commitments,” adding that “the faithful translation of these pledges into action is essential to the reputation for dependability that such an important sector of our economy must maintain”.

He further doubled down on plans for a £3bn building safety levy, which had faced criticism from housebuilders because of its intention to raise money without specifying how it would be spend.

Clark’s predecessor Michael Gove, who was sacked by prime minister Boris Johnson last week, had seen the levy as a method of raising a government fund to fix “orphan” buildings where the initial developer no longer exists.

However, major building companies’ executives viewed this as unfair, and claimed it forced developers to pay costs higher than those for the work on their own buildings.

Clark responded: “The taxpayer is contributing £5bn towards fixing those buildings which have been left orphaned by absentee developers: the industry must pay its share too.”

Clark also promised to target rogue developers who are yet to sign up to pledges with his department’s new recovery unit, which will attempt to recoup cladding remediation costs.

“For those large developers yet to commit to doing the right thing, it is time to step up and be prepared to pay up. As we identify more developers responsible for fire safety defects in buildings, I expect them to follow suit and take responsibility for repairs – and to do so quickly.”