The secondary legislation enabling the creation of the Responsible Actors Scheme (RAS), which prevents certain residential property developers from developing properties in England unless they have signed a developer remediation contract with the government, came into force on 4 July 2023. 

The Department of Levelling Up (DLUHC) has come good on it's promises to push ahead with the scheme which launched on 24 July 2023. 

Guidance on the scheme has been promised "by summer 2023... well in advance of the prohibitions being applied to any developer". 

The Responsible Actors Scheme guidance webpage now includes: 

• Responsible Actors Scheme: plain English Guide. 
• Responsible Actors Scheme: Enrolment Guide; and 
• Responsible Actors Scheme: members list and prohibitions list (currently both lists remain unpopulated, although the webpage suggests both lists will be maintained and kept up to date). 

We are to assume that these documents are the promised guidance to satisfy the commitment to provide clarification by summer 2023. 

Enrolment to the scheme will either be through invitation from the Secretary of State or through voluntary application. According to the guide, invitations to those developers that have already entered into a self-remediation contract with the government have already begun being issued. 

Developers will have 60 days upon receipt of an invitation within which to either join the scheme or to make representations as to why they don't meet the eligibility criteria asserted by DLUHC. If DLUHC still considers the developer eligible for membership, the developer will then have 30 days in which to join the scheme or face the prospect of being subject to the planning and building control prohibitions set out in the Regulations. It will also find itself on the RAS prohibitions list. 

It is recognised in the guidance that some developers may be part of a wider group of companies with more than one entity which is eligible for membership and in those cases, the invitation will contain further information on what to do. 

Whilst it is likely that those developers on the receiving end of an invitation will be familiar with their obligations contained in the self-remediation contract, it would be advisable to for developers to acquaint themselves with the updated guidance. 

As of 25 July, only two companies remain on the list of developers who have not signed the development remediation contract. One of those being the lead contractor of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment.