At the resolution of a five year fight for justice, the resident victims of the Richmond House fire have spoken about what they have learned of the UK’s broken housing construction industry.
Residents have settled their High Court claim for damages against the Richmond House constructor, St James, a subsidiary of the Berkeley Group, and against the housing association freeholder, MTVH.
Richmond House was a timber-framed building of 23 shared-ownership homes destroyed by fire in September 2019. The building burnt down in minutes in the middle of the night. All 60 victims were left homeless, mainly key workers including teachers and NHS staff. Many were seriously injured escaping.
Forensic reports from independent experts and the LFB identify the building had hidden cavity defects which caused the rapid fire spread. Berkeley had wrongly given the building a ‘stay put’ strategy. Were it not for the quick thinking of residents in raising the alarm and helping each other to escape, many could have died.
After a five year struggle, the settlement now resolves all disputes and disagreements between the residents, St James/Berkeley, and MTVH. The terms of the settlement remain confidential.
The victims of the Richmond House fire stand together with the many other victims of the UK’s continuing fire safety housing construction scandal. While very happy and relieved at their settlement, residents spoke out about what they have learned.
Agnese De Masi, a victim of the fire, said:
The housebuilding market is broken. There are no adequate protections for defective low-rise buildings, like ours, that are four-storeys and under. We have been lucky in being able to make a claim but the costs to victims of making a claim are in most cases prohibitive.
The residents’ solicitor, Christian Hansen of Bindmans, said:
Attempts to fix the broken system have not gone far enough. As well as missing protections for under 11m buildings, negligent and dishonest constructors of all sizes of buildings can still avoid responsibility. A damages claim could be made in this case because St James is still a going concern. Many defective and dangerous buildings have been built by short-lived companies which disappear afterwards, leaving profits to a parent company, and leaving residents with no one left to hold accountable.
The Building Safety Act 2022 recognises that problem but does not plug the gap. It allows only limited claims against associated companies leaving victims unable to claim for many losses. Victims cannot recover anything from such constructors if their building burns down – as happened to Richmond House. Among other things, claims against associated companies should be widened beyond the narrow confines in the Building Safety Act.
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