The ruling, which centred on four residential towers in Gosport, Portsmouth, found that the contractor’s design and workmanship was defective and in breach of contract, and could set a precedent that construction contractors could be held accountable for the remedial costs to remove cladding.
The cladding also did not comply with building regulations at the time, fire barriers had not been correctly installed and cladding material not properly fixed to buildings.
Hyde Housing Association had identified the cladding following a fire risk assessment undertaken following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The housing association had removed the cladding on the buildings at its own cost, and it said due to the speed of remediation that it missed out on government funding.
The housing association said that £8m in damages had been brought for the costs of a waking watch and replacing cladding installed between 2006 and 2008.
The ruling said that it supported Hyde’s remedial scheme and said that it was entitled to recover the cost of the waking watch and remediation from the contractor.
The final amount is still being assessed but Hyde said it was “confident” that it would recover the majority of the £8m.
Andy Hulme, Hyde’s chief executive, said: “This is a landmark ruling for the industry that draws a line in the sand and establishes that the costs of defective work must be borne by those responsible for it. We have not recharged leaseholders for the costs of any major fire safety works or ‘waking watch’ measures to date.
“Millions of people are still being affected by the cladding crisis. The costs of that crisis across the UK have been for too long borne by residents, the taxpayer and by the poorest people in society who are seeing affordable housing budgets cut to cover the costs of making homes safe.”
He added that the case was a “welcome step forward in helping right the wrongs of the past”, and it would hopefully mean that remedial works will be started more swiftly and damages are more likely to be settled out of court with less delay.
“As a not-for-profit housing association, we will continue to work hard to provide safe and decent homes for those who desperately need them and help tackle the housing crisis in London and the South of England,” he said.
Mulalley & Co was contacted but declined to comment.
