Newham Council filed a lawsuit against Chaplair Ltd. for neglecting to remove the dangerous cladding by the deadline.

The council declared that the delay lacked a legitimate reason. 

Newham's mayor, Rokhsana Fiaz, said: "We have zero tolerance for owners of buildings delaying essential life-saving fire safety work." She added: "Six years after the Grenfell Tower disaster, [the] decision by the court symbolises a landmark ruling in our fight to raise standards and hold building owners to account. 

"This monumental ruling sends a clear warning to all building owners operating in Newham that they must act swiftly in the interest of our residents' safety first and always; otherwise, we will take decisive action against you." 'Failed to satisfy me' Newham Council pursued legal action using its powers under the Housing Act 2004 after Chaplair failed to remove dangerous cladding from a building by March 31, 2021, a deadline imposed in an improvement notice issued by the council in September 2020. 

Work only began in May 2021, with the cladding being fully removed by February 2022. 

In a verdict delivered on Wednesday at the City of London Magistrates' Court, Deputy Chief Magistrate Tan Ikram said: "The prosecution has satisfied me so that I am sure that a valid improvement notice was served and the defendant company did not carry out the required remedial works relating to the external facades within the required period. "The defendants have failed to satisfy me that they have a reasonable excuse for failing to comply with the improvement notice. I therefore find Chaplair Ltd. guilty of the offense." The company will be sentenced on October 31 at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Chaplair was one of the five building owners identified by the government in 2020 who had neglected to repair the hazardous cladding on their buildings.

Then-housing secretary Robert Jenrick warned that if companies did not "act swiftly, we will work with local councils to bring necessary enforcement action immediately". The BBC has contacted Chaplair Ltd. for comment.

View the SOURCE here.

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