Faulty Construction Work Comes Back At U.K. Builder Countryside
Faulty Construction Work Comes Back At U.K. Builder Countryside
(Bloomberg) --
One of the U.K.’s biggest homebuilders has boosted the amount it has set aside to repair faulty buildings after discovering 69 properties it built failed to meet regulations.
Countryside Properties Plc has increased its provision for remedial works to 41 million pounds ($55 million) after finding that many buildings constructed over the past 15 years didn’t meet the sector’s regulations, the company said in its full-year results on Tuesday.
“The works are necessary because we fell short of our high standards at the time of construction,” Countryside said in the statement. “We are committed to high quality design and construction to deliver a positive legacy for future generations.”
The government and the private sector are struggling to account for how to pay for a crisis in building safety, triggered by closer scrutiny into high-rise apartment blocks after the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017 killed 72 people. A Parliamentary report last year puts the figure for fixing faulty buildings across the country at 15 billion pounds.
While developers have also set aside millions of pounds for repairs, some residents are still finding themselves on the hook for bills for thousands of pounds. The shortfall has prompted the Bank of England to investigate whether leaseholders being forced to pay for repair costs might hinder their ability to keep up with their mortgage payments.
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