© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
A leaseholder in Luton is facing a £50,000 bill for cladding remediation due to a gap in legal protections. Tom DeRonde, a paramedic, received a £65,000 invoice from his freeholder, Hastoe Housing Association, after attempting to sell his flat. His three-storey building, constructed in the 1970s and refurbished in 1995, was found to have combustible expanded polystyrene (EPS) insulation and missing cavity barriers.
The building's height excludes it from the Building Safety Act 2022, which offers protections to residents in structures over 11 meters or five storeys. Mr. DeRonde explored the Defective Premises Act 1972, amended in 2022 to cover works from the past 30 years. However, he discovered that this act does not apply to refurbishments like the 1995 cladding addition to his building, as it only covers construction, conversion, or enlargement projects.
Hastoe Housing Association, after seeking legal advice, stated they cannot pursue action against the original contractor under the Defective Premises Act due to this limitation. This situation highlights a legal loophole affecting leaseholders in similar low-rise buildings with historical refurbishments.
The Grenfell Tower tragedy in 2017 exposed widespread fire safety issues in buildings with combustible cladding. In response, the UK government introduced the Building Safety Act 2022 to protect leaseholders from remediation costs. However, as Mr. DeRonde's case illustrates, these protections do not extend to all buildings, particularly those under 11 meters or with refurbishments predating the act.
This case underscores the need for comprehensive legal reforms to address fire safety issues in all residential buildings, ensuring that leaseholders are not unfairly burdened with remediation costs due to legislative gaps.