£70m Cladding Replacement and Structural Bill for Barratt

BARRAT DEVELOPMENTS plc is facing a bill of £70 million over this year and next for the removal and replacement of dangerous cladding and other work.

After the tragedy at Grenfell in 2017, Barratt Developments reviewed all of its buildings where cladding had been used.

It found its 2001 Citiscape development in Croydon needed the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding to be removed and replaced at a cost of £15.8m.

Citiscape was designed for Barratt by a third-party structural engineering firm and was sold to the current freeholders in 2003.

Structural concerns

When the ACM cladding was removed from Citiscape in 2019, structural concerns were identified and independent structural engineers were appointed to carry out a full investigation.

‘Significant issues’ relating to the design of the building’s reinforced concrete frame (‘RCF’) now require extensive remedial work. Barratts is paying for the work, the bill for which would otherwise fall on leaseholders.

A review of 26 other Barratt developments where RCFs were designed by either the same original engineering firm or by other companies has been carried out.

The company says the review has not identified any issues as severe as those present at Citiscape. Engineers are now investigating if any remediation of the concrete frames is required.

So far out of the 26, seven developments have needed remedial action which has either been completed or is underway, while eight developments have been found to have no defects. The company has apologised unreservedly and does not intend to pass any of the costs to building leaseholders.

The total future costs for the remedial programme at Citiscape, the review itself, and any remediation required at other buildings, Barratt estimates to be around £70m over 2020 and 2021. The company says it is actively seeking to recover costs from third parties, but warns there is no certainty of this.