The court has ruled in favour of the government in a legal case against Railpen-owned freeholder, Grey GR, giving residents at Stevenage's Vista Tower assurance that their homes will be made safe without further delay.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) launched legal action against Grey GR in October 2022, after “unacceptable delays” in fixing multiple serious fire safety issues, first identified in the building in 2019.

Following a trial in March, the court decided in favour of the government and will issue a remediation order (RO) imposing a legally binding requirement on Grey GR to fix building safety issues within a mandated timeframe.

The ruling has been hailed as a “landmark legal challenge” by the government, as the Vista Tower case was the first legal action brought by the government under new powers introduced through the Building Safety Act 2022.

However, the tribunal clarified that while it found it was appropriate to make a RO, this is not a fault-based order or case where an order should set short deadlines and expect active interventions to put pressure on a defaulting landlord.

In addition to this, the tribunal said that it found the criticism of the respondent, Grey GR, in pursuing their application to the Building Safety Fund was misplaced.

“The government introduced the fund without a means test and encouraged applications from freeholders in the same position as the Respondent, which bears no responsibility for the creation of the relevant defects," it stated.

“It became responsible for the structure of the building, with rights to collect estimated/actual costs of works from the leaseholders under the terms of their leases. That was the basis on which the Respondent bought the freehold. The cost of the works is of course many times the value of the freehold, even without the impact of the BSA."

The tribunal also acknowledged that the respondent is part of large institution which is responsible for the pensions of railway workers, which will trigger delays with approvals and constraints on spending.

In addition to this, it said that the fact that the respondent has a portfolio of at least 12 buildings with similar issues to Vista Tower is a further complicating factor, together with the building itself, which is more than 45m high.

However, the tribunal said the "most obvious reason" for not making an order was the fact that Grey GR had already entered into a JCT Works Contract with its contractors and a GFA with the applicant and work has at last started to remediate the defects at Vista Tower in Stevenage.

Indeed, Grey started work on Vista Tower in January 2024, and is set to be completed by Autumn 2025.

"Both agreements provide for practical completion by September 2025 and in those circumstances it is difficult to see whether a RO will make any practical difference," the tribunal stated.

However, the tribunal also agreed with the DLUHC's view that the whole focus of the BSA is on leaseholder protection, therefore granting the RO "as a backstop to give assurance".

Commenting on the ruling, Levelling Up Secretary, Michael Gove, said: “Leaseholders have lived with uncertainty for far too long while Grey GR delayed essential works to make homes safe. This decision is a victory for leaseholders in Vista Tower and across the country.

“It is hugely disappointing that Railpen - the ultimate owner of Grey GR and who manage £34bn in ‘assets’ - has kept leaseholders in limbo in this way. Railway workers with their pensions invested in this fund, as well as innocent leaseholders, deserve better.

“This court case should serve as a warning to all building owners. If you fail to fix your unsafe buildings and ensure the safety of residents, we will see you in court. We will not stop until we secure justice for leaseholders.”

The government is also seeking ROs on a further five Grey GR buildings that have or will be going to trial over the next year. This includes The Chocolate Box in Bournemouth where remediation works have also.

Commenting in response to the ruling, a spokesperson for Grey GR said: "The safety of residents has been and remains Grey GR's (Grey) utmost priority. We have always been fully committed to remediating the buildings for which we are responsible, including Vista Tower, where we have made considerable progress remediating.

“By its own admission during the final hearing, the DLUHC accepted that Grey was committed to remediating Vista Tower.

"While we are satisfied with the tribunal's judgement to issue a RO solely to provide an additional "backstop to give reassurance" to leaseholders, it is important to note the tribunal's determination that this is "not a fault-based order", nor that the terms of the order will change the timeline for delivery of the agreed remediation. Indeed, the order is based solely on the plans already submitted by Grey and that are already in progress.

“Additionally, the tribunal asserted that criticism of delays caused by Grey's application to Building Safety Fund funding was 'misplaced', due to Grey having followed the government's own complex guidance and advice in assessing the fire safety of Vista Tower.”

“Contrary to DLUHC’s statement, internal works throughout the building were completed in 2023, and the extensive remedial work to the external façade began early this year.

“We remain optimistic that we will finish all works by our provisional completion date of Autumn 2025, and the court acknowledged that the remediation order has no bearing on our ability to speed up the process.

"As detailed during the hearing, we have faced numerous delays during the remediation process in our attempts to seek the clarity needed from DLUHC to proceed at pace with remediation.

"We have engaged extensively with the government throughout where it has been possible to do so, but have been met with slow – and in some cases no – responses to our enquiries, constantly changing deadlines and requirements, and a frequent moving of goalposts.”

"Following the decision, we hope we can move forward and continue to be a part of the solution to an issue that was not of our making and provide leaseholders with safer homes."

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