Legislation Updates

Urban Splash ordered to pay £46.5m for fire safety remediation: what building owners should take from it

A tribunal has ordered Urban Splash companies to pay £46.5m towards fire safety remediation at seven Manchester blocks. What it means for building owners.

By Danny Peachey ·

On 5 November 2026 the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) ordered five Urban Splash companies to pay a combined £46,500,650 towards fire safety remediation at seven residential buildings in Manchester. The application was brought by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government under section 124 of the Building Safety Act 2022, which lets the Tribunal make a "remediation contribution order" (RCO) where it considers it just and equitable to do so.

The decision is worth understanding whether you own, manage or assess residential blocks.

What the Tribunal decided

The buildings – Burton Place, the Chips Building, Christabel House, Emmeline House, Sylvia House, the Moho Building and The Box Works – were developed by Urban Splash Limited, and the Tribunal found that each contained fire safety defects. In its words, the principal problems were "combinations of combustible materials, ineffective cavity barriers and fire-stopping, and failures of compartmentation" capable of allowing fire to spread through or over the buildings. The materials identified included combustible insulation, combustible cladding panels, OSB, structural insulated panels and defective cavity barrier products.

Key points from the decision:

  • The cost: the Tribunal found that £60,638,548 (including VAT) was reasonably incurred, or is reasonably to be incurred, on remediation. Of this, £51,510,063 was funded through the government's Building Safety Fund – in other words, by the taxpayer.
  • Who pays: Urban Splash Limited, Urban Splash Developments Limited, Urban Splash Group Holdings Limited, Urban Splash Work Limited and Stubbs Mill LLP were made jointly and severally liable. Most of the sum goes to the Secretary of State; £741,594 is payable directly to the Moho Building's management company.
  • Not everyone linked to the group was caught: applications against four other respondents – including family investment companies and a residential investment fund – were dismissed. The Tribunal stressed that an entity "does not become liable merely because it is a developer or is legally associated with one"; it still has to be just and equitable to make the order.
  • A 10% reduction: the Tribunal reduced the Building Safety Fund-funded sum by 10% in light of government failures identified by the Hackitt Review and the Grenfell Tower Inquiry, while making clear this was not a finding that government was responsible for 10% of the defects.
  • "Standards of the time" did not help: the Tribunal found that aspects of the original construction of several buildings did not meet the Building Regulations or the statutory guidance that applied when they were built.

Urban Splash has publicly criticised what it calls the "no-fault" approach of the Building Safety Act, so further legal steps cannot be ruled out.

What this means for you

Developers and landlords of residential buildings. Section 124 allows orders against a landlord of the building, a former landlord at the qualifying time, the developer, or a company or partnership "associated" with any of them. This case shows the Tribunal is prepared to look across a corporate group, not just at the company whose name is on the original contract.

Housing associations, councils and managing agents. "Interested persons" who can apply for an RCO include the Secretary of State, the Building Safety Regulator, the local authority, the fire and rescue authority and anyone with a legal or equitable interest in the building. If you are carrying remediation costs for defects you did not create, an RCO may be a route to recovery – take legal advice early.

Responsible persons under the Fire Safety Order. The defects in this case – combustible external wall materials, missing or ineffective cavity barriers and fire-stopping, and compartmentation failures – are exactly the issues that a suitable and sufficient fire risk assessment of a block of flats should be alert to. Litigation over who pays can take years; your duty to manage the risk to residents applies today.

Practical takeaways

  • Know what your building is made of. Hold (or obtain) as-built information on external walls, insulation, cladding and cavity barriers. Where it is missing, consider whether intrusive inspection or a specialist external wall assessment is needed.
  • Don't assume compliance at handover means safe now. Here, parts of the original construction failed to meet the rules of the day.
  • Check compartmentation and fire-stopping, particularly service penetrations, riser cupboards and flat entrance doors. Fire doors are part of that compartmentation and should be inspected regularly.
  • Keep your fire risk assessment current. Review it when new information on external walls or defects comes to light, and make sure interim measures are recorded and reviewed.
  • Keep good records. The Tribunal scrutinised evidence closely – waking watch costs at one building were excluded for insufficient evidence. Detailed, dated records of findings, decisions and spend matter.
  • Get advice on cost recovery. If you are a landlord or freeholder facing remediation costs, speak to a solicitor about the Building Safety Act's leaseholder protections and recovery routes.

How Obelisk Fire Safety can help

We carry out fire risk assessments for blocks of flats and other housing to BS 9792:2025, and for other premises to PAS 79-1:2020, alongside detailed fire door inspections and surveys. We work with housing providers, care and support schemes, HMO landlords, schools and NHS premises nationwide, with a focus on the East Midlands and surrounding areas.

If you'd like a review of your buildings' fire risk assessments or fire doors, contact us on 07407 156178 or info@obeliskfire.co.uk.

This article is for general information and does not constitute legal advice.

Sources

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