The blaze occurred in 2019, and caused the complete destruction of 23 homes for 60 people, including 17 children
The vast majority of former residents that were displaced by the Richmond House fire lodged a claim against MTVH – Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (the freeholder) and St James (the builder) in April 2024.
The claim sought payment for losses, damages, and personal injuries from the fire, which was deemed to have been caused by defective cavity barriers, which allowed the fire to spread quickly. The fire is another example of residential blocks having inadequate safety preparations.
The Richmond House fire took 125 firefighters to keep under control
The building residents were under a stay-put policy in the event of a fire, however, in the wake of the Grenfell disaster, the residents took it upon themselves to evacuate immediately.
The defective cavity barriers were reminiscent of the issues at Grenfell, with insufficient compartmentalisation.
The claim filed has been settled, with residents settling claims against the builder St James, and MTVH settling their own claims against St James in spring 2024.
MTVH’s 2023-24 annual report included a net income of £2.69m from insurance proceeds due to the fire, and £7.29m of one-off costs related to the fire in 2021-22.
The terms of the settlement have not been publicised.
After disputes with the Berkeley Group, of which the builder St James was a part of, it was deemed that blame lay with the specific construction company.
“Negligent and dishonest constructors of all sizes of buildings can still avoid responsibility”
The blaze has been used as an example of how smaller residential buildings are not being given due consideration.
Progress on the recommendations of the Grenfell Inquiry Phase 1 recommendations have seen work done on many buildings over 11m tall, but has no mention of buildings beneath this threshold. There is also no mention of these smaller buildings in the Phase 2 report.
Christian Hansen, of Bindmans law firm, representatives of the victims of the Richmond House fire, said: “Attempts to fix the broken system have not gone far enough. As well as missing protections for under 11m buildings, negligent and dishonest constructors of all sizes of buildings can still avoid responsibility.
“A damages claim could be made in this case because St James is still a going concern. Many defective and dangerous buildings have been built by short-lived companies which disappear afterwards, leaving profits to a parent company and leaving residents with no one left to hold accountable.”
“The Building Safety Act 2022 recognises that problem, but does not plug the gap. It allows only limited claims against associated companies, leaving victims unable to claim for many losses.
“Victims cannot recover anything from such constructors if their building burns down – as happened to Richmond House. Among other things, claims against associated companies should be widened beyond the narrow confines in the Building Safety Act.”
Agnese De Masi, a victim of the fire, said: “The housebuilding market is broken. There are no adequate protections for defective low-rise buildings, like ours, that are four-storeys and under. We have been lucky in being able to make a claim, but the costs to victims of making a claim are in most cases prohibitive.”
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