Housing construction companies that do not remove unsafe facade cladding in a timely manner must expect criminal charges

Developers who hesitate to remove unsafe cladding could be jailed under new laws the government is currently considering.

Number 10 said it was considering “legal changes and criminal sanctions” to “force” homeowners to make rapid safety improvements in the wake of the Grenfell Tower report.

At the same time, Sir Keir Starmer stated that companies found responsible for “appalling failings” in the public inquiry would be barred from awarding public contracts.

Speaking to MPs on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said that “even today there are buildings with unsafe cladding” and that “the speed at which this problem is being tackled is far, far too slow”.

He referred to the fact that last week there was a fire in a block of flats in Dagenham, east London, where the cladding was still being removed.

According to official figures, only about half of the 4,630 buildings in England where dangerous cladding such as that in Grenfell Tower was found have begun to be refurbished.

The Prime Minister said the publication of the Grenfell report “must be a moment of change” and his government would “take the necessary steps to accelerate this”.

“We are prepared to force owners to evaluate their buildings and initiate remediation measures within specified timelines,” he said.

“With a legal obligation to enforce measures when necessary to counter the industry’s uncompromising attitude.”

Later, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed to i that ministers were considering new laws to “impose more obligations on building owners”.

The spokesman said: “We will ensure that tenants and their leaseholders can never be ignored again.”

“We will explore all options, including legislative changes and criminal penalties for non-compliance, but we will present a more comprehensive plan in the autumn.”

In his statement to MPs, Starmer said there would be “full accountability” for the Grenfell disaster, “including through criminal proceedings”.

He also said the government would begin to exclude the companies named in Sir Martin Moore-Bick’s report from public contracts.

“The government will write to all companies found to have been involved in these appalling failings. This is the first step in preventing these companies from receiving government contracts,” he said.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said the move was a punishment for the companies and a “direct response to their involvement in the Grenfell tragedy”.

Joe Powell, Labour MP for Kensington and Bayswater, where Grenfell is located, said the companies responsible for the tragedy should “pay their share of the enormous cost of the clean-up work across the country”.

He continued: “We owe it to every single person who lost their life at Grenfell to ensure meaningful systemic change happens.

“Tonight, thousands of people across the country will go to bed in unsafe buildings. After decades of failure, we urgently need to speed up remedial work to repair dangerous cladding and make buildings safe.”