Government releases details of Responsible Actors Scheme

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) has published details about a Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS) for residential developers.

Eligible developers who do not join and comply with the Scheme will have planning and building control prohibitions imposed on them.

The Government intends to lay regulations in Spring 2023 to establish the Responsible Actors Scheme for residential developers under sections 126-129 of the Building Safety Act 2022.

The RAS aims to improve the safety and standard of buildings by requiring that any member of the Scheme must identify and remediate, or pay for the remediation of, life-critical fire safety defects in 11m+ residential buildings they developed or refurbished over the past 30 years.

To demonstrate that commitment, members of the Scheme will be required to enter into and comply with the terms of the developer remediation contract.

Eligible developers that do not enter into and comply with the terms of the developer remediation contract will be prohibited from carrying out major development and gaining building control sign-off.

This publication provides further detail on the expected approach to the Scheme and the key features of the proposed RAS regulations, including:

• how the Scheme will work;
• the likely eligibility criteria and membership conditions for the first phase of the Scheme;
• how eligible developers will apply to join the Scheme; and
• the prohibitions that will be imposed on eligible developers that fail to sign the contract and comply with its terms.