Jill Burdett has followed the disgrace of the Timber Wharf saga at every step for Confidential.
You may want to read Part One, Two, Three and Four first.
SOME GOOD news at last for owners at Timber Wharf. Really good news.
After many months of negotiation the NHBC (National House Building Council) has agreed to contribute more than £700k towards the £1m cost of repairs to the Urban Splash building on Worsley Street.
The challenge now will be to get the remaining £300k from the other players in this sorry saga.
It has also agreed to waive the £880 excess each policy holder would usually have to pay and is further expected to fund some of the remedial works in the lobby caused by water damage.
It means that the 181 flat owners, most of whom have already contributed between £2,000 to £8,000 to the costs of the works, should get most of their money back.
With work to repair the roof already well under way and work on the seventh floor balconies starting this month, the owners must feel that an end to the nightmare is in sight.
Timber Wharf flat roof mess
Well done to the Timber Wharf management committee and to management company Mainstay for sticking with the task and getting a settlement.
The NHBC confirmed: “Following discussions with the Managing Agents and their consultants, it has been agreed that NHBC will make a financial settlement for this claim.”
A spokesperson for Mainstay said: “We can confirm that NHBC have offered a significant settlement; however, an exact figure cannot be confirmed at present as any offer is dependent on all leaseholders signing the settlement document and return the documentation to us as an acceptance that this will be a full and final settlement.
"This is ongoing and unless all of the signed documents are received, the offer could be withdrawn.
“As a positive note, the works are progressing well; the eighth floor upper roof is now completed and we have dropped the scaffolding down to start the seventh floor terraces works. These works are on schedule and we are still forecast to finish all of the exterior works at the end of October, as always this is weather dependent.”
Timber Wharf repairs
The challenge now will be to get the remaining £300k from the other players in this sorry saga.
As it became apparent that the roof would have to be replaced following a series of disastrous leaks, developer Urban Splash, which commissioned, constructed and signed off the Glenn Howells project, offered £155k towards the remedial work on condition that any such payment did not make them legally responsible.
I contacted Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash Co-founder and Chairman.
“Is the £155,000 you offered still on the table?” I asked. “Urban Splash is back in profit, you are about to launch a new development in New Islington, you’ve just met Prince Charles and talked legacy, NHBC has paid up, the sun is shining – can you send them a cheque?”
While Bloxham said he was delighted to see the works on the building progress, he did not know anything about the NHBC offer and had been advised by his legal team not to say anything as 'all sorts of threats of litigation are going around.'
Tom Bloxham MBE, Urban Splash
Now a big chunk of the bill has been covered, the Timber Wharf management committee would hope that the other players, namely Urban Splash, the architects Glenn Howells and the engineers Stockleys, would find themselves able to cover the rest.
Out of conscience and reputation if nothing else.
If Urban Splash stood by their original offer of £155k, the other players would be looking at around £70k each. Much better than the original £1m.
The cost of lawyers and surveyors will also have to come out of the £700k and the management committee is now wanting to see all invoices and payments before anything is agreed. They're also still negotiating with NHBC about the cost of repairing damage caused by flooding.
The suggestion is that as it stands now owners should get back 60% to 70% of the monies they have paid. They have until Friday 8 August to sign the paperwork.
Timber Wharf on the right of the canal
I reiterate that which I wrote eight months ago:
Timber Wharf resulted from a RIBA competition, a system which is aimed at pushing the boundaries of design and construction and back in 2002 was innovatively stunning.
Sometimes when you try new stuff it can go wrong and you won’t be damned for that, but you will be damned if you don’t put your hand up and accept responsibility.
The roof at Timber Wharf was defective a decade ago and should have been replaced then. It would have spared years of uncertainty and stress for individual owners whose apartment is their biggest asset and who are reminded of its failings every time they come home.
That they now have to pay the price of repairing a defective building is scandalous.
The owners should still fight to get 100% back.
Follow @jillburdett
Timber Wharf scaffolding
