The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has announced that it has taken the first step in launching legal action to protect residents and ensuring that building safety standards are met.
Grey GR Limited Partnership, freeholder of Vista Tower, has been given 21 days to commit to the remediation of the tower’s fire safety defects, or the government will make an application to the courts. The owners will have to begin remedial works, or they will be forced to by the courts.
The freeholder is one of the first to have action taken against them by the Recovery Strategy Unit, a recently created unit that was set up to identify and pursue firms that are repeatedly refusing to fix buildings, working alongside other enforcement authorities.
Vista Tower is a fifteen-storey tower block in Stevenage and houses more than 100 residents. These residents have faced two years of delays and the current action is reinforcing the commitment, made by the government, to ensure that building owners, landlords and developers meet their legal obligations.
Simon Clarke, Levelling Up Secretary of State, said;
“The lives of over 100 people living in Vista Tower have been put on hold for over two years whilst they wait for Grey GR to remediate unsafe cladding. Enough is enough.
“This legal action should act as a warning to the rest of industry’s outliers – big and small. Step up, follow your peers and make safe buildings you own or legal action will be taken against you.”
Sophie Bichener, leaseholder in Vista Towers, said;
“We thank the Government for helping us, and leaseholders across the country – Vista Tower residents simply want to live in safe and secure homes.
“This action is a step in the right direction for the innocent leaseholders still desperately pleading with their building owners to take responsibility.
“Now the leaseholder protections are in force – it should serve as a warning to those entities still playing games and doing all they can to dodge their legal obligations.”
Unsafe cladding had been identified on the building over two years ago, with the leaseholders being handed bills and unable to sell. Vista Tower is also just one of at least 24 buildings registered with the Building Safety Fund that have been unable to progress with work due to delays, with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities monitoring the cases closely and considering the next steps.
The funding agreement for the Building Safety Fund has, however, not yet been signed which means that the government is unable to release any money.
