Following our previous meeting with Vistry Group in early April, we had a follow-up meeting on 28th June to discuss progress with their building safety remediation programme in the last quarter.
We met with Alexander Cook, special projects director, and Scott Stothard, divisional managing director of manufacturing and special projects.
We discussed a wide range of topics which you can read about in our full report below. In summary:
• 96% of buildings within scope of the developer remediation contract had been assessed and 40% of self-remediation projects had started or completed works (in line with the average pace for the industry).
• The Group acted as a contractor rather than a developer for around two-thirds of the buildings that it expects to remediate. Progress on these buildings cannot be identified from DLUHC’s reporting.
• Our main concern was that start dates appeared to be slipping for a high proportion of buildings.
• Vistry has not yet made any “Gateway 2” submissions to the Building Safety Regulator for building control approval. It expects to make its first submission in October 2024, six months after the regime was introduced.
• We were informed that there are two cases where a formal dispute resolution process is ongoing, and DLUHC has also conducted audits of the Fire Risk Appraisal of the External Wall for three Vistry developments.
• On several Vistry developments, insurance costs have spiked due to insurer concerns about the scope of remedial works – but there is little action to try to resolve the impasse between developers and insurers.
• Vistry is not proactively assessing or seeking information about any buildings under 11 metres that they developed, to determine whether they have life-critical fire safety defects or not – but several cases have recently emerged where leaseholders are potentially facing remediation costs.
• According to the latest DLUHC data, Vistry has not reported any engagement and communication with “leaseholders, freeholders, residents, occupiers and other users.”
Read the full report on our meeting with Vistry Group here
CALL TO ACTION!
Are you a leaseholder or resident in a Vistry Group building, having issues in relation to assessment or remediation – and unable to get a satisfactory response via your managing agent? Please email the developer directly at buildingsafety@vistrygroup.co.uk and copy us at endourcladdingscandal@gmail.com if you would like us to be aware of the issues being raised and to follow up if needed.
If you need to escalate your concerns to MHCLG (formerly DLUHC), please email building.safety@communities.gov.uk, providing the name and address of your building together with a short summary of your concerns, and detailing the attempts you have made to contact the developer. Please copy our team at endourcladdingscandal@gmail.com so that we can follow up where necessary.
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