Govt leans on Urban Splash to pay for £46m cladding issues
Secretary of state Michael Gove is seeking a significant contribution from the Manchester-based developer towards the remediation of seven buildings in the city, according to media reports.
The Financial Times has reported today that Urban Splash is one of three developers the government plans to squeeze for £70m for work required to bring residential buildings in line with new safety standards.
Urban Splash is being asked for £46m to make seven Manchester buildings compliant with new building safety laws, according to the FT.
Urban Splash declined to comment when approached by Place North West.
One of the buildings in need of remediation is Chips in New Islington, which Urban Splash completed in 2009 and sold to E&J Estates in 2013.
Chips, which was deemed safe upon completion, was found to have “non-fire retardant” cladding in 2018 following inspections in the wake of the Grenfell disaster, which resulted in the deaths of 72 people.
The Department for Homes, Levelling Up, and Communities has applied to a property tribunal for an order to require Urban Splash and two other developers to stump up for building safety works, the FT said.
The legal action is an escalation of the government’s bid to clamp down on dangerous blocks, as set out in the Building Safety Act. The act was passed in 2022 and is aimed at forcing landlords and developers to pay for remediation rather than leaseholders.
A DLUHC spokesperson said: “Homes must be made safe without delay and those responsible for unsafe buildings should pay to fix them.
“Where developers and freeholders have profited from unsafe buildings, we will use powers in the landmark Building Safety Act to recover funds paid out by both taxpayers and leaseholders.
“We will continue to take action against those who do not take responsibility for building safety issues.”
Aside from Urban Splash, Yianis Group and Hollybrook are also being asked for contributions towards the remediation of buildings.
Yianis and Hollybrook were approached for comment.
I didn’t think I would ever say these words about Michael Gove but he seems to be doing this right.
By IR
I wonder which other Manchester buildings this covers? It would be nice if 3Towers could have some money from US…
By GQ
The government are truly taking the pi…..biscuit with this cladding sandal. It is ridiculous to expect companies who followed the rules and regulations, set out by the government, to then change the rules and the retrospectively make developers/architect/engineers/contractors foot the bill and responsibility for the governments fuc….mess up. I hope Urban Slash are able to weather this, they are a great developer and are one of the few who seem to care about design/quality of architecture, not just profit.
By Fudge Gove
Good!
By Byronic
Fudge… you’re missing the point. Government is only taking action where buildings have been unsafely delivered – i.e. even at the time, combustible cladding was used and the most important thing is that fire stopping measures, once investigated, were often not implemented properly. I’m sure Splash would rather pay up and have safe buildings in their legacy portfolio, rather than a potential corporate manslaughter claim if someone died as a result of a fire in an unsafe building…..
By John W
@IR Gove has a long record of seeming like he is doing the right thing but then by magic some dastardly govt minister stops him in his tracks, and he achieves little. He’s just a guy who has a good PR machine
By Levelling Up Manager
The Architects Designer Specifier should take full responsibility for these building failures and their insurance indemnity will most likely cover the costs so that they can avoid going into liquidation.If the manufacturer’s of the materials used in the construction did not meet the British Standards for compliance and Fire Testing Certification then the manufacturers are to blame. The UK law needs to act responsibly and bring the responsible parties to the High Court well overdue.
By Mr Paul Griffiths
Michael Gove is just another politicina. He does not actually know anything, or do anything. There are little people somewhere who have the ideas and do the work. Honestly! Ministers are like temporary CEOs who, supposedly, tell tens of thousands of ‘little people’ what to do and how to do it. They know nowt and do nowt. Don’t be fooled again!
By Anonymous
I do think developers have an obligation to deliver high quality and safe buildings, I have no issue with them making huge sums of money eh when things go well but step up and sort out your problems.
By Pablo
If the developer had full design & build responsibility then they will have professional indemnity insurance, otherwise it will be down to the designed who specified the cladding who should also be adequately insured. It is the Tory supporting insurance industry that will be wriggling to get out of paying up.
By ArtyB
What a novel idea. This should been have been applied to all the developers that produced substandard work, across the board, a long time ago.
By Anonymous