At the end of last month the investor, Get Living, which owns the freehold of properties on the Olympic Estate was ordered to pay £18m towards fixing fire safety issues in some of the apartment blocks.

Get Living did not build the blocks, they acquired them as an investment after construction was complete.    Many in the investment world have suggested that this decision risks putting off international investors from owning residential properties and, to quote one source from the international investment market, it puts “the financial burden on the current owners to fund repairs from construction flaws made by the original developers".  

Get Living argued that it should not have to pay as ultimately the Government as original developer (as well as the contractors) should foot the bill, as they built the Olympic Village.  Get Living added that it never expect or requested the residents to pay and it would not delay the remediation work, which is under way.

Due diligence can help mitigate risks of owning residential investments significantly (both legal and technical) and the importance of regulatory compliance in the context of residential investments is now more important then ever. Building and Fire Safety | Burges Salmon UK (burges-salmon.com)