Court gives green light to Birmingham student hall cladding claim
The High Court in London has given the green light to a multi-million-pound cladding claim levelled against the building contractor of a student hall of residence in Birmingham.
The leaseholders of Jennens Court, a 586-bed student residence in central Birmingham, have been seeking to sue building contractor Watkin Jones & Son over defective cladding. The contractor, however, claims that the leaseholders are not entitled to bring the claim.
Jenners Court was completed in 2009 at a cost of £18m, according to court documents. It houses almost 600 Birmingham City University students in ensuite flats of between three and six residents.
The High Court in London has given the green light to a multi-million-pound cladding claim levelled against the building contractor of a student hall of residence in Birmingham.
The leaseholders of Jennens Court, a 586-bed student residence in central Birmingham, have been seeking to sue building contractor Watkin Jones & Son over defective cladding. The contractor, however, claims that the leaseholders are not entitled to bring the claim.
Jenners Court was completed in 2009 at a cost of £18m, according to court documents. It houses almost 600 Birmingham City University students in ensuite flats of between three and six residents.
However, in 2020 an inspection found the cladding to be defective. The leaseholders paid £3.8m to have it replaced and are now seeking to sue the contractors for damages, negligence and breach of warranty.
The leaseholders are two shell companies which hold the lease on behalf of a third claimant, Jersey-based trustee Apex Group Trustee Services. The freehold is owned by Birmingham City Council.
In a trial earlier this year, lawyers for the contractor argued that the leaseholders could not bring the claim owing to various mergers in the Jersey trustee banking sector.
Specifically, the two companies that bought the leasehold from the original developer later merged with a unit of French bank BNP Paribas. This, say the defendant’s lawyers, has created a complicated situation in Jersey trust law that means that the current claimants no longer have a legal title to bring the claim.
The case was heard over three days. And in a complicated, 50-page ruling handed down yesterday, trial judge Mr Justice Waksman dismissed the argument.
“The overall conclusion is… that there is no impediment to the claimants’ title to sue, and the action will now proceed to trial on the substantive issues,” he said.
The trial is scheduled to take place in January 2024.
(1) USAF Nominee No. 18 Ltd; (2) USAF Nominee No. 18a Ltd, as nominees holding on bare trust for (3) Apex Group Trustee Services Ltd (formerly known as Sanne Trustee Services Ltd), acting as managing trustee of USAF Portfolio 18 Unit Trust v Watkin Jones & Son Ltd
Business and Property Courts (Waksman J) 26 July 2023
