Housing association wins landmark cladding case

Housing association Hyde Group has won an £8m legal victory over defective cladding in what has been hailed as a landmark case. Martlet Homes, part of Hyde Group, had claimed that its building contractor Mulalley & Co was responsible for the defective design and installation of cladding at four high-rise blocks of flats in Portsmouth. The company denied all liability for losses sustained by Martlet in having to replace the cladding when materials were reviewed across the UK after the Grenfell fire in June 2017. At the High Court in London, Judge Stephen Davies backed the housing association’s claim and awarded Martlet substantial damages for remedial works it undertook to address the defects. The judge also awarded Martlet damages for the costs incurred by having to employ a “waking watch” – a 24-hour patrol of the buildings – as a temporary fire prevention measure. The final amount has yet to be assessed, but Hyde is confident that the association will recover the majority of the £8m it has claimed. Andy Hulme, Hyde’s chief executive, described the judgment as “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”. The Times (£) Photo © Shutterstock