Council ends PFI deal, takes legal action over tower block cladding

Camden Council is to end a private finance initiative deal and take legal action against contractors in a dispute over the recladding of tower blocks.

Recladding of the council’s Chalcots estate became necessary following the Grenfell tower fire last year.

While the cladding used was different, it still failed fire safety tests, the council said at the time.

In a message to tenants last week, council leader Georgia Gould said: “The PFI have let us all down. In the next few weeks we will, in accordance with the terms of the contract, be taking the final steps in terminating the PFI agreement.

“We will be beginning the process of taking legal action against the sub-contractors to recover the costs we have already spent. We are clear that our residents have been let down and we will be taking steps to hold the parties responsible to recover our losses.”

Cllr Gould said Camden had secured £80m from the Government for recladding and new curtain walling at Chalcots.

She said the council’s safety programme would see it “taking control of all aspects of the buildings and the services provided at the Chalcots Estate.

“We have now decided to take the appropriate steps under the agreement with Partners for Improvement in Camden (PFIC), to bring that contractual relationship to an end.

“This is the final stage in us taking back full control of the management of the Chalcots Estate. We are also now actively looking at legal avenues against PFIC and its supply chain in order to get the best deal for you.”

A council statement issued in 2006, when Camden and PFIC signed a PFI deal for a 15-year project to renovate the five blocks, said PFIC was a consortium of Halifax Bank of Scotland and United House.

Mark Smulian