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24 September 2025
Issue: 8132 / Categories: Legal News , Landlord&tenant , Housing , Construction , Health & safety
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Clarification on cladding costs

Leaseholders are not liable to pay for the cost of remediating dangerous cladding, the Upper Tribunal has held

Almacantar Centre Point Nominee No1 Ltd & Ors v De Valk & Ors [2025] UKUT 298 (LC) concerned the iconic Centre Point House in London’s Tottenham Court Road. The landlord contended remediating the type of dangerous cladding involved was recoverable as a service charge. The leaseholders argued the reverse.

Bhavini Patel, senior associate at Howard Kennedy, acting for ten leaseholders, said: ‘The case is important as it looks at key concepts of what was meant by “cladding”, “cladding remediation” and “unsafe”. It cannot be clearer… that the courts and tribunals will do their utmost to uphold Parliament’s intentions and to protect leaseholders from costs of remediation and work which they had no part of.’

MOVERS & SHAKERS

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

London Solicitors Litigation Association—John McElroy

Fieldfisher partner appointed president as LSLA marks milestone year

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Kingsley Napley—Kirsty Churm & Olivia Stiles

Firm promotes two lawyers to partnership across employment and family

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Foot Anstey—five promotions

Firm promotes five lawyers to partnership across key growth areas

NEWS
Freezing orders in divorce proceedings can unexpectedly ensnare third parties and disrupt businesses. In NLJ this week, Lucy James of Trowers & Hamlins explains how these orders—dubbed a ‘nuclear weapon’—preserve assets but can extend far beyond spouses to companies and business partners 
A Court of Appeal ruling has clarified that ‘rent’ must be monetary—excluding tenants paid in labour from statutory protection. In this week's NLJ, James Naylor explains Garraway v Phillips, where a tenant worked two days a week instead of paying rent
Thousands more magistrates are to be recruited, under a major shake-up to speed up and expand the hiring process
Three men wrongly imprisoned for a combined 77 years have been released—yet received ‘not a penny’ in compensation, exposing deep flaws in the justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Jon Robins reports on Justin Plummer, Oliver Campbell and Peter Sullivan, whose convictions collapsed amid discredited forensics, ‘oppressive’ police interviews and unreliable ‘cell confessions’
A quiet month for employment cases still delivers key legal clarifications. In his latest Employment Law Brief for NLJ, Ian Smith reports that whistleblowing protection remains intact even where disclosures are partly self-serving, provided the worker reasonably believes they serve the ‘public interest’ 
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