Owners of the Victoria Square apartments in Belfast affected by structural defects will have all their rates payments refunded, according to the Northern Ireland Land & Property Services. In 2019, residents had to leave their homes after structural issues were detected and since then continued to receive rates bills and pay a service charge. An interim report by William J Marshall and Partners in conjunction with the testing company Sandberg LLP commissioned by owners of the city centre property found that a column was “constructed using concrete that was understrength by some 75%”. It claimed that a dozen other columns are also understrength,
although to a lesser degree, and said the failings posed “a serious health and safety issue”, but further tests are needed. The authors of the report say too much water and too little cement was used in the mix for some of the concrete at the Victoria Square site.
Land & Property Services officials have determined the properties can now be removed from the Valuation List, resulting in the refund of £170,000 ($238,000) for rates paid. Additionally, accrued arrears worth £396,000 will be written off. While this decision applies only to the Victoria Square apartments, calls are being made for new legislation that would be similar to that in England and Wales, giving property owners 30 years to make claims for compensation for a building found to be defective, unlike at present in Northern Ireland, where such claims must be made within six years of the completion of a building.
The high court decision means that the interim findings reported by William J Marshall and Partners in relation to the structural failings will not be tested in court. Responding to questions about the concrete used in the project, building firms Farrans and Gilbert Ash deny liability for the defects. The recent report recommends extending concrete strength testing to all “columns, slabs and beams in the building”, and expresses concern about the design of the building, but states that was not the primary factor for the failure of a key concrete column. Meanwhile, concerned parties are raising devilment about the health and safety implications of the potentially defective building
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