HAB Housing, the sustainable development company where TV presenter Kevin McCloud is executive chairman, has said that it had no legal means to control the performance of the contractor of its snag-hit Applewood scheme in Stroud – but will ensure that this is not the case in future schemes.
The company says that it has now recruited its own in-house construction team to allow it to deliver future projects directly and act as its own contractor. It also hopes to develop “an industry-leading delivery process”.
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The change of strategy follows reports of a catalogue of problems at the 78-home scheme developed by HAB Oakus, which is a joint venture between HAB Housing and its partner GreenSquare Group.
However, HAB Housing and GreenSquare say that the latter was fully responsible for delivering the project, and awarding the design and build contract to Gloucester-based building contractor Markey Construction.
GreenSquare, and its in-house of clerk of works, was therefore responsible for managing the contract.
HAB’s Applewood scheme has been hit by snagging issues
In a statement, Mike Roberts, managing director of HAB Housing, said: “Unfortunately this position has meant that we have not had any power to manage the construction or deal with the problems that have arisen. We realised how uncomfortable this was some time ago and have put in place plans to wrest greater control.
“So on a more positive note, we decided to recruit our own construction team, so that we can act as our own contractor in the future. Never again will we allow ourselves to be in the position where we do not have control of the construction process.”
The statement also adds that McCloud’s housing company had “no legal relationship with the building contractor or any of their subcontractors” and “cannot therefore hold to account the professionals who made a blunder on the gas pipe routing or for any other defect”.
The statement also says: “We have never sought to absolve ourselves of any of the issues that have arisen at Applewood, we care deeply about it and have spent huge amounts of time and energy in pushing for resolution.
“Against this backdrop the residents at Applewood have formed a fantastic, vibrant community; we salute them and will continue to support them. In spite of the short-term issues, Applewood has great qualities and we are confident that it will be a much loved place for generations to come.”
“We fully appreciate that our relationship with Kevin leaves us open to cheap shots, shabby journalism and attention-seeking MPs. Our belief is that one snag in a new building is one too many and we are committed to developing an industry-leading delivery process.”
The full text of the statement is available on HAB Housing’s website here
