By Jamie Waller, Local Democracy Reporter
Mansfield District Council is planning to launch legal action over fire safety defects at a London apartment block that have left it facing a £20m bill.
The council bought the block of 40 flats on Bedford Road, Clapham, in 2017 as an investment.
However, serious fire safety problems were later found which meant the walls, floors and ceilings had to be ripped out so they could be re-built internally.
Elected mayor Andy Abrahams (Lab) has now authorised up to £360,000 in legal fees in order to recover the costs of the repairs.
The target of the legal action isn’t named in a report, which will go before Mansfield District Council next week (Tuesday, September 17).
The building’s developer, Oakapple, went into voluntary liquidation in July 2017.
“As the landlord of the property, the council ultimately has a responsibility for the health and safety of the occupants,” a council report says.
“Unfortunately, Oakapple went into Voluntary Liquidation in July 2017. The Council have engaged an external legal advisor who has advised that the Council may be able to take legal action against others.
“To enable the council to seek to recover its costs in respect of undertaking the remediation works at the property, both those incurred to date and those that will be incurred in the future until the works are complete, it is recommended that the council pursues legal action.”
The elected mayor took the decision under emergency powers due to the urgency, by-passing the council’s normal decision-making process.
The Labour-run local authority has been funding the temporary accommodation of the Clapham residents since they left the building in March 2023.
The council previously forecast that it would spend approximately £19.691m between 2018 and 2025 to fix the issues.
This included £4.98m allocated in the 2022 to 2023 budget, with £7.296m budgeted for 2023/24 and a further £6.472m in 2024/25.
The fire safety issues were identified after new regulations were introduced following the Grenfell Tower disaster in 2017.
Issues inside the walls mean a fire would be difficult to contain and could spread across the building.
The London Fire Brigade also found a lack of 60 minutes of fire safety resistance protection for escape routes in corridors, lobbies and stairs in 2021.
Repair work will require walls, floors and ceilings to be ripped out so the building can be rebuilt internally.
In July, the council asked contractor Wilmot Dixon to draw up costs for potential repair work.
Mansfield District Council said it was unable to provide further information about the legal action.