Persimmon is blasted for its shoddy workmanship

A DAMNING review has called for wholesale reform at the UK’s most profitable housing developer, and hammered its building practices.

The report on Persimmon said a lack of thorough checks increased the risk of defects and led to essential wall cavities, which slow the spread of fires, being fitted incorrectly or not at all. It also said the company focused too much on getting coveted industry star-ratings that do not ‘accurately reflect build quality’.

The independent review, led by Stephanie Barwise QC, declared: ‘The problem Persimmon has encountered with fitted cavity barriers is a systemic, nationwide problem, which is a manifestation of poor culture coupled with the lack of a group build process. Persimmon’s culture must change.’

Barwise praised Persimmon for commissioning the review and for ‘valuable’ changes but said none of these could be judged as successful unless the company, which made a £1.1bn profit in 2018, rethought its entire approach to build quality. She was particularly critical of inconsistent fitting of cavity wall barriers, discovered last year, which she said posed an ‘intolerable’ risk to customers.

Persimmon brought in fire engineers and says it has done more than 16,000 inspections. But Barwise said even after contractors had visited and claimed to have fixed the problem, that was not the case.

Persimmon launched the review in April after it was hit by a torrent of complaints about shoddily-built homes. Defects have included leaks, exposed nails, doors that do not close and loos flushing boiling water.

Persimmon has been the focus of heightened scrutiny after Jeff Fairburn, its former boss, was handed an £85m pay package, provoking fury. He left a year ago. Chairman Roger Devlin admitted sweeping changes are needed and accepted the findings. He told the Mail: ‘Clearly, there is a lot we can still learn from this.’