Council wins cladding removal court case

City of London Magistrates Court ruled against building owner Chaplair Ltd this week after it failed to meet a deadline to remove flammable cladding from its Lumiere building in east London.

Newham Council pursued legal action after Chaplair failed to remove cladding by the 31 March 2021 deadline imposed in an improvement notice issued by the Council in September 2020.

Work eventually began in May 2021, with dangerous cladding removed by February 2022, and through its legal action, the Council successfully argued that there was no reasonable excuse for the delay.

Rokhsana Fiaz OBE, Mayor of Newham said: “Through our Newham Cladding Action campaign to protect the rights of residents in our borough, we have zero tolerance for owners of buildings delaying essential life-saving fire safety work.

“Failing to remove dangerous cladding as quickly as possible places lives at risk and, where necessary, we will act with full force using the powers we have to protect our residents.

“Six years after the Grenfell Tower disaster, today’s decision by the court symbolises a landmark ruling in our fight to raise standards and hold building owners to account in Newham. It will also help authorities across the country to safeguard the interests of their residents using the powers available under vital housing legislation.

“This monumental ruling sends a clear warning to all building owners operating in Newham that they must act swiftly in the interest of our residents’ safety first and always, otherwise we will take decisive action against you.”

In his ruling, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram wrote: “The prosecution have satisfied me so that I am sure that a valid Improvement Notice was served and the Defendant company did not carry out the required remedial works relating to the external facades within the required period. The Defendants have failed to satisfy me that they have reasonable excuse in failing to comply with the Improvement Notice. I therefore find Chaplair Ltd guilty of the offence.”

The case will return for sentencing at Westminster Magistrates Court next week.