Residents of Belfast’s Victoria Square have secured a significant step forward in their claim for compensation after lawyers successfully had their High Court actions reinstated by Consent Order following an appeal filed with the Court of Appeal for Northern Ireland.
At a review of the matter today, the Consent Order was approved, and the Lady Chief Justice commended parties on reaching agreement.
Our Belfast office, instructing Frank O’Donoghue KC and James Milliken BL, have been acting for an appeal group comprising the owners of 17 apartments within the complex.
The appeal group represented by us at Gateley Legal was the first to lodge an appeal following the judgment of Mr Justice Huddleston which struck out their cases in March 2024 at an early stage on the grounds of limitation.
Under pre-existing laws in Northern Ireland, in most scenarios compensation claims for defective premises are required to be brought within six years of a building being completed. In England and Wales, the time frame had earlier been amended to extend to 30 years. The newly passed Defective Premises Act (NI) 2024 received Royal Assent and came into effect in September 2024, bringing the limitation period for claims brought in Northern Ireland into line with those in England and Wales.
Commenting on the reinstatement of the cases, Jonathan Jackson, Legal Director at Gateley Legal in Belfast, said: “I am delighted that we have achieved, through an agreed Order with the defendants in these cases, a reinstatement of our clients’ High Court cases. My clients have been through a particularly stressful period, with much uncertainty as to the road ahead. I am very pleased that they will now have an opportunity to bring their cases forward to be considered on their substantive merits.”
The Victoria Square residential development located on Chichester Street was completed in 2008 but has remained empty since April 2019 after major structural defects were identified resulting in all 91 residents having to vacate the premises.
A claim was lodged by various owners of the apartments against the construction firms Farrans and Gilbert-Ash and architecture company Building Design Partnership, for structural defects, negligence and loss of value.